How to schedule "breaks" within a block?

[cshal...@gmail.com]

Hello Community,

I have no coding background. I am brand new to E-Prime, and I need help.

I am designing an experiment in which I have 48 unique samples, weighted 2, random order, that I wish to separate into 4 equal "blocks" in order to give our volunteer subjects cognitive breaks from the task. That is, I want a break screen with no time limit that the subject can leave by pressing {SPACE} and then continue with the next randomized sample (numbers 25, 49, or 73, as appropriate), randomized as if that break screen was not there and the subject was running through the 96 samples consecutively. I know I could program 4 blocks to each be followed by my desired break screen, but this would result in a constraint on the randomness of the sample presentation that I wish to avoid.

Is it possible to code into the script something to the effect:

After Sample = 24, 48, and 72, then Go To BreakScreen.
After {SPACE}, then Go To Sample 25, 49, and 73, respectively.

If such is possible, can you help me learn how to write this code and then insert it properly into the script generated by E-Studio?

Thank you,
~C.S.

[Paul Groot]

it should be possible to do this without any coding magic. Just create two levels using a block list and trial list (like in a 'basic' paradigm). Then set the number of block samples to 4 (using weight 4 for example). The trial list should contain all 2x48 trials, using random selection as you wish. The trick is to terminate the trial list after playing 24 trials by setting the 'exit list' property to 24 samples. That's it.

The next thing is to create a proper pause screen. Although this can be done by including a slide or text object after the trial list, you need another small trick to make sure that the pause screen is not displayed after the last block. My preferred solution is to use a slide with two (or more) tab pages. One tab contains the text that should be displayed between blocks, while another page is used to show after the last block. Then add a column to the BlockList to specify the ActiveState property of pause slide (using the [] syntax). More complex designs might require other techniques, but in most cases switching the ActiveState property of the slide will do.

Have a look at the attached example script to see how I did this from scratch (in only two minutes) using a fresh 'basic' script.

best
paul

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[David McFarlane]

You might also do this (with no code) using a main List, run in
Sequential order with different rows for trials and rest breaks (each
with appropriate Weights), and have the trial rows call on a single
nested List that contains trial info. See the Nested List tutorial
in Appendix C of the User's Guide that came with E-Prime, or browse
through the Samples on the PST website.

But Paul's example looks good, so give that a try.

-- David McFarlane

At 8/7/2013 04:16 PM Wednesday, Paul Groot wrote:
>it should be possible to do this without any coding magic. Just
>create two levels using a block list and trial list (like in a
>'basic' paradigm). Then set the number of block samples to 4 (using
>weight 4 for example). The trial list should contain all 2x48
>trials, using random selection as you wish. The trick is to
>terminate the trial list after playing 24 trials by setting the
>'exit list' property to 24 samples. That's it.
>
>The next thing is to create a proper pause screen. Although this can
>be done by including a slide or text object after the trial list,
>you need another small trick to make sure that the pause screen is
>not displayed after the last block. My preferred solution is to use
>a slide with two (or more) tab pages. One tab contains the text that
>should be displayed between blocks, while another page is used to
>show after the last block. Then add a column to the BlockList to
>specify the ActiveState property of pause slide (using the []
>syntax). More complex designs might require other techniques, but in
>most cases switching the ActiveState property of the slide will do.
>
>Have a look at the attached example script to see how I did this
>from scratch (in only two minutes) using a fresh 'basic' script.
>
>best
>paul
>
>
>
>
>On 7 August 2013 19:29,

[cshal...@gmail.com]

Hello Paul,

Thank you very much for your help! I have set up my blocks and procedures as you outlined, and it is working.

If I trouble you for a clarification, it is unclear to me how to set up my Pause Slide to show different text after my final block. That is, I do not know what you mean by switching the ActiveState. I made the Slide with two tabs (Default and Slide1) with my pause text in the former and goodbye text in the latter. How do I get the Slide1 (goodbye) text to show after that final block? It shows the Default (pause) text for me, making me believe I labeled something in the slide or BlockList incorrectly.

Thank you again,
~C.S.

[cshal...@gmail.com]

Actually, I think I answered my own question. I had a problem getting E-Prime to show different texts on a slide after different blocks, but the tutorials very easily show how to get a slide to show different images. So, I wrote my text in Word, screen captured it, saved is as a JPEG, and programmed the files names into BlockList. So, I had two images: one with my PauseScreen text and and the second with my EndScreen text.

I am confident that there are more elegant ways to have solved my problem, but my way worked. (Editing the text is a chore; that's true.)

~C.S.

[Paul Groot]

Great you solved it yourself, but let me elaborate just a bit on this topic for the interested reader...

I think that the example you used already showed how to use list-attributes to dynamically change stimuli. What you did with the filenames (i.e. using []-syntax) can also be done with text itself. (Just like in the basic paradigm that estudio will create automatically.) Or more advanced: a list-attribute can also be used to select the active slide (Default or Slide1). Just put the name off the list-attribute in the ActiveState property of the slide, and put square brackets around the name to make it a dynamic parameter (i.e. [NameOfAttribute]).

Paul

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