Psychology Facilities

The Brigantia Building on College Road houses academic and administrative offices for Psychology. 
Psychology undergraduates will visit Brigantia when they need to meet with personal tutors and project supervisors, as well as when they tend to various administrative aspects of student life.
 

The Department of Psychology has its own research dedicated MRI/fMRI facility in the Brigantia building. Facilities within the Bangor Imaging Unit include a research and teaching dedicated 3 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner, MRI compatible EEG, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), stimulus presentation systems, and eye tracking systems. In addition to anatomical and functional MRI, the scanner is equipped for 4D cardiac, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).

The Miles Dyslexia Centre provides language and literacy teaching support and assessment for children and adults.  The Centre also conducts research into the neurocognitive and behavioural basis of reading and writing. The Miles Dyslexia Centre comprises of a team of researchers and educational practitioners, developing best-practice teaching and assessment methods, combined with cutting-edge scientific research.

The Lloyd Building on College Road houses a number of different research labs used by students and researchers within the Department of Psychology at Bangor University. 
 

The Department of Psychology has open-access eye-tracking facilities in the Lloyd building. Facilities within the Open Access Eye-Tracking lab include a remote eye-tracker Eyelink 1000 plus, HD LCD monitors, Ultravoice Dynamic Cardioid Vocal Microphone, audio mixer, and over ear headphones.

Eye trackers work by using infrared light to track the position of the eyes. In this lab, a chin rest is also available to help stabilise the participant’s head and to ensure that their eyes are at the correct distance from the eye tracker. 
 

The Department of Psychology has open-access electrophysiology and topographic facilities in the Lloyd building. Facilities within the Psychology Open-access Electrophysiology and Topographic (POET) Lab include ActiveTwo multi-channel high resolution biopotential measurement system from BioSemi, pin-type active electrodes, EEG headcaps. The lab also includes a remote eye-tracker Eyelink 1000 plus for EEG measurements with simultaneous eye tracking.

In the POET lab, participants are tested inside an electrically shielded Faraday cage with acoustic dampening. Faraday cages are used to enhance the quality of the EEG data by blocking electromagnetic signal interference from the measurement room. 

In this lab, there are also cameras and an intercom system available for researchers to regularly check on the participants during the testing session. This ensures that the participants don’t feel too isolated from the outside world whilst inside the testing room.

In the control room, there are three desktop computers dedicated to data analysis.
 

The Department of Psychology has a 3-D vision and hand function laboratory that contains a Qualisys Miqus motion capture system for precise measurement of hand movements, as well as various bespoke pieces of equipment, including visual displays for presenting virtual 3-D visual stimuli, and tools and simulated prostheses for studying use of mechanical devices

The lounge area in the Wheldon Building is equipped with a printer, a vending machine, and comfortable seating options, where students can sit and chat with their peers before their classes, or study in a relaxed atmosphere.
 

The Wheldon Building's computer lab is a versatile facility equipped with 80 computers. This lab supports a range of practical sessions, such as statistics and academic writing.

Pontio is Bangor University’s arts and innovation centre. Some of the modules offered by the Department of Psychology are delivered in Pontio Level 5, a large lecture theatre that can seat up to 450 students.

When using the MRI scanner to take images of the brain, it is of vital importance that participants keep their head (and body) as still as possible. The Brigantia building houses a state-of-the-art mock scanner that is equipped with a sound system to play scanner sounds, and MoTrak, a software which allows fine-grained head motion tracking. The mock scanner is designed to familiarise participants, particularly children, with being in the scanner environment.

This lab contains a unique prototype stereoscopic 3-D display designed to investigate how we see in 3-D and in particular to explore solutions to various problems experienced when using media such as VR systems, 3-D movies etc. As well as perceptual measures of depth perception, the system can measure where the eyes are looking, and the distance at which eye’s lens is focused. The experiments require that only the experimental stimuli are visible, and so the room is blacked out when in use.

The Brigantia building houses a state-of-the-art EEG lab that features two testing booths, including BioSemi systems for high-resolution biopotential measurement, and CRT monitors for displaying visual stimuli during testing sessions. The lab is also equipped with several EEG caps. The testing booths are designed to provide a quiet and controlled environment for data collection. Researchers can also monitor participants during testing sessions using cameras and an intercom system to ensure their safety and comfort.