Inquisit Language Reference
columns attribute
The columns attribute specifies which data columns to record to the data file.
Member of
<data>
Syntax
/ columns = (columnname, columnname, columnname, 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 |
| group |
group id entered at the beginning of an experiment |
| subject |
subject id entered at the beginning of an experiment |
| session |
session id 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 |
Scan code of the pressed response key |
| responsetext |
Character 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 |
|
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) a reserved keyword representing a particular data value, and 2) 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, and stimulusonset 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.
Examples
The following records 10 columns to the data file:
<data>
/ columns=(group, subject, computer.ipaddress.1, blockcode, trialcode, trialnum, latency, response, stimulusitem, stimulusitem, values.totalearnings, values.dprime, script.elapsedtime)
</data>