columns attribute

The columns attribute specifies which data columns to record to the data file.

Applies to

Syntax

/ columns = [columnname, columnname, columnname, "string", property, property, property]

Parameters

property

Any property of any element may be listed as a data column. This includes custom properties defined in the values and expressions elements.

columnname

A predefined data column. Any of the following predefined columns are allowed:

Name Description

date date (mmddyy) of the experiment

time time (hh:mm) the experiment started

build build number of the Inquisit executable running the session

subject subject number entered at the beginning of an experiment

trialcode trialcode for the current trial (default trialcode is the trial's name)

blockcode name of the current block

blocknum block number

trialnum number of the trial in the current block.

latency number of milliseconds from the end of the last display frame until a valid response is given

response ASCII code of the pressed response key

correct indicates whether the response was correct (1) or incorrect (0)

error indicates whether the response was incorrect (1) or correct (0)

inwindow indicates whether the response was inside (1) or outside of (0) the response window

windowcenter the current response window center (ms), or 0 if the response window is not being used

pretrialpause length of pause (ms) at the beginning of the trial

posttrialpause length of pause (ms) at the end of the trial

meanlatency running average latency in the current block

medianlatency running median latency in the current block

sumlatency running sum of response latencies in the current block

minlatency shortest latency in the current block

maxlatency longest latency in the current block

sdlatency running standard deviation of response latencies in the current block

varlatency running variance of response latencies in the current block

numcorrect running total of correct responses in the current block

percentcorrect running percentage of correct responses in the current block

correctstreak running count of consecutive correct responses in the current block.

errorstreak running count of consecutive incorrect responses in the current block

numinwindow running total of responses falling within the response window in the current block

percentinwindow running percentage of responses falling within the response window in the current block

count running total of trials in the current block

totalmeanlatency running average latency over the entire experiment

totalmedianlatency running median latency over the entire experiment

totalsumlatency running sum of response latencies over the entire experiment

totalminlatency shortest latency over the entire experiment

totalmaxlatency longest latency over the entire experiment

totalsdlatency running standard deviation of response latencies over the entire experiment

totalvarlatency running variance of response latencies over the entire experiment

totalnumcorrect running total of correct responses over the entire experiment

totalpercentcorrect running percentage of correct responses over the entire experiment

totalcorrectstreak running count of consecutive correct responses over the entire experiment

totalerrorstreak running count of consecutive incorrect responses over the entire experiment

totalnuminwindow running total of responses falling within the response window over the entire experiment

totalpercentinwindow running percentage of responses falling within the response window over the entire experiment

totalcount running total of trials over the entire experiment

simulusnumber the item number presented on the current trial

stimulusitem the item presented on the current trial

stimulusonset the onset time in milliseconds of the presented stimulus

trialdata value specified by the <trial> element's trialdata attribute

"string" a literal string value

"string"

A literal string value. This can be used, for example, to mark data as having been produced by a particular script.

Remarks

The columns attribute specifies the data values to be recorded to file and the column in which they are written. There are three types of columns that can be listed: 1) user-defined strings appearing in quotes, 2) a reserved keyword representing a particular data value, and 3) any property of any element defined in the script. The data values may be specified in any order. On each trial, Inquisit will write a single line of data consisting of each data value specified by the column. Columns will appear in the data file in the specified order.

Stimulusnumber, stimulusitem, stimulusonset, trialdata, and "string" receive special treatment.

The first stimulusnumber specified in the columns attribute indicates that the item number of the first stimulus appearing on the current trial should be recorded. The second stimulusnumber indicates that the item number of the second stimulus presented on the trial should be recorded, and so on. If no 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. stimulus is presented on a given trial, a '0' is recorded.

Similarly, the first stimulusitem specified in the columns attribute indicates that the actual item presented by the first stimulus appearing on the current trial should be recorded. If the stimulus is <text> or <port>, the actual item is recorded. If the stimulus is a <sound>, <picture>, or <video>, the item’s filename is recorded. If the stimulus is a <shape>, the name of the shape is recorded. Like stimulusnumber, each successive stimulusitem records the item from each successive stimulus presented on the trial. If no 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. stimulus is presented on a given trial, a '0' is recorded.

Similarly, the first stimulusonset specified in the columns attribute indicates that the onset time of the first stimulus appearing on the current trial should be recorded. Like stimulusnumber, each successive stimulusonset records the onset time for each successive stimulus presented on the trial. If no 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. stimulus is presented on a given trial, a '0' is recorded.

Similarly, the first trialdata specified in the columns attribute indicates that the first item specified in the trialdata attribute of the current trial should be recorded, the second occurrence of trialdata indicates that the second item in the trialdata attribute of the current trial should be recorded, and so on. If no 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. item is defined in the trialdata attribute, a '0' is recorded. (Note: if trialdata is not specified in this command, or if no <data> is defined, the trialdata attribute of each trial element is ignored.)

Finally, each text string within quotes in the columns attribute is recorded to the data file verbatim.

Examples

The following records 10 columns to the data file:

<data>
/ columns=["1.0.2", subject, computer.ipaddress, blockcode, trialcode, trialnum, latency, response, stimulusitem, stimulusitem, values.totalearnings, values.dprime, script.elapsedtime]
</data>