Millisecond Forums

Hi Elke,

can you attach your script (zipped along with any additional files needed like pictures,etc.) to this thread (instructions here) or - in case it's too big - upload it somewhere else (free file hosting services on the net like rapidshare or megaupload)? It would be much easier to possibly find a solution with the actual script at hand.

Best,
~Dave

hey,

the file has been uploaded. Hope that you can read it.

Thanks a lot in advance for helping me!

regards,

elke

Elke,

I've looked at your script and I have some ideas for you. Because Inquisit *does not* support multiple independent control structures (i.e. block-level stimulustimes and trial-level stimulustimes running in parallel), even the fanciest <expressions> won't help here. So, we'll have to resort to some dirty trickery.

(1) To get the instruction pages completely out of the timing scheme, run them from a seperate <block instructions> element before the other likert-pages.

(2) The likert-pages should also be run from within a <block> element rather than from a <survey> element. This is because we'll need the /bgstim command for our trickery, which is only available for the <block> element.

(3) Here's the dirty part. Make a six minute long video (Windows Movie Maker will do) with the following contents and timeline:
00.00 - 01.00: Blank white screen
01.00 - 01.05: Warning: "One minute is up!"
01.05 - 02.00: Blank white screen
02.00 - 02.05: Warning: "Two minutes are up!"
[...]

(4) Include the video in your script using the <video> element and set your testblock to present the video in the background using the /bgstim attribute.

I honestly think there's no other way to do it. Feel free to comment and ask further questions if anything remained unclear.

Regards,
~Dave

I've put together a small demonstration of what I outlined above. The zipped archive containing the modified script and the video file is available here. To try it out, do the following:

(1) Extract the files to your PC.
(2) Open the exp-file with Inquisit.
(3) Start the Object Browser (F5).
(4) Run the block called "timepressure".

Hope this helps,
~Dave

Thanks Dave for your help but unfortunately we cannot open your dirty-trickery file. We also had a question concerning a whole likert page within the block-element. Because now a block element shows each time 1 statement whereas we really need to show a whole page of statements to the respondent (20 items).

I will work on the code today and try to combine it with your comments.

regards,

elke

Elke,

if you send me a private message including your e-mail address, I'll happily mail the trickery to you. Apart from that, you need not be concerned about using the <block> element: Note that Inquisit's <survey> element is just a specialized <block> element; similarly, the <surveypage> element is just a specialized <trial> element. As a consequence, you can run your <surveypage> elements from the / trials listing of a standard <block> element. It will still present all your twenty items at the same time / on the same page. You'll see when you get the demo.

Best,
~Dave