OpenSesame
OpenSesame is an open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. It allows users to create psychology and neuroscience experiments with a drag-and-drop interface, with support for surveys, response collection, media playback, sensors, and more.
OpenSesame: Open-Source Experiment Builder
An open-source graphical experiment builder for the social sciences, offering a drag-and-drop interface for creating psychology and neuroscience experiments with various features.
What is OpenSesame?
OpenSesame is an open-source application for creating experiments in psychology and neuroscience. Developed in Python, it features a graphical drag-and-drop interface to build experiments without any coding required.
Some key features of OpenSesame include:
- Supports common psychology/neuroscience experiment components like visual/auditory stimuli, questionnaires, response collection, randomization, feedback, etc.
- Plugins allow integrating eyetrackers, motion trackers, EEG, fMRI, physiology sensors, and more.
- Built-in inline Python scripting for advanced customization and control flow.
- Comprehensive experiment building blocks for pseudorandom, sequential, and Latin Square designs.
- Functions for accurate timing, synchronization, and latency compensation.
- Support for multi-computer setups to distribute experiments across multiple machines.
- Open-source under the GPL, encouraging customization and community growth.
With its GUI and plugins, OpenSesame simplifies creating everything from simple reaction time tests to complex multi-factor cognitive and neuroscience experiments.
OpenSesame Features
Features
- Drag-and-drop interface for building experiments
- Support for surveys, response collection, media playback, sensors
- Python scripting for advanced experiment logic
- Support for plugins to extend functionality
- Built-in library of psychology/neuroscience experiments
- Open source and extensible
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Intuitive graphical interface
Powerful built-in features
Extensible and customizable via plugins/Python
Free and open source
Cons
Steeper learning curve than some GUI alternatives
Less flexibility than coding experiments from scratch
Limited support compared to commercial alternatives
Official Links
Reviews & Ratings
Login to ReviewThe Best OpenSesame Alternatives
View all OpenSesame alternatives with detailed comparison →
Top Education & Reference and Research Tools and other similar apps like OpenSesame
PsychoPy
PsychoPy is an open-source application used to design and run experiments for psychology and neuroscience research. It provides a graphical user interface for creating visual and auditory stimuli, designing experimental timelines, and precisely recording participant responses.Some key features of PsychoPy include:Creating visual stimuli like shapes, text, images, videos, and animationsPresenting...
SuperLab
SuperLab is a versatile software application used to create and run psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral experiments. It allows researchers and students to build computerized experiments containing various types of stimuli including text, images, audio, video, and external hardware inputs.With SuperLab, you can easily create experiments that record keyboard/mouse responses, reaction...
DMDX
DMDX is an open source software tool for designing and running psychology experiments, particularly those involving response time measurements. It was developed starting in the 1990s by Kenneth Forster and Jonathan Forster at the University of Arizona.DMDX allows researchers to easily program experiments using a text-based scripting language. Stimuli such...