Introduction
I - 1

        Historically, psychology has been one of the most popular majors in undergraduate education. Laboratory courses in which students learn to design experiments, collect and analyze data, and then report findings are considered a fundamental part of the psychology curriculum at nearly every undergraduate institution. In addition, most departments have senior-level independent research opportunities that students can complete for credit. The introduction of computers capable of running programmed experiments revolutionized these traditional laboratory experiences in the years after 1977 to the point that there was a sudden, nearly universal need to establish computer labs for student use. As local or extramural funds became available, departments purchased computers and commercially developed laboratory software packages from developers like CONDUIT, Life Science Associates, or Psychology Software Tools, Inc., and then proudly declared the opening of their computerized undergraduate labs.