Download SR Research Experiment Builder User Manual

the deployed version of an experiment generally has a better timing performance than
running it directly from the Experiment Builder application because the computer is not
running the Experiment Builder interface at the same time as the experiment. To run an
experiment in a different computer, the user should copy the entire directory of the
deployed version of the experiment to the new experiment computer. The experiment
should be run at least once and results validated on the new computer before starting full
data collection from multiple participants.
2.4 Participant Data Set Randomization
As mentioned earlier, the experiment designer can use Experiment Builder to create
prototypical trials for the experiment and to supply the actual parameters of individual
trials from a data source. In most experiments, the user will need to randomize trial order
so that the experiment materials are not presented in the same sequence across
participants. Randomization of data source can be done with either an internal
randomizer or an external randomizer. These two randomization methods are almost
identical and therefore the user may use the internal randomizer to perform
randomization unless counterbalancing or Latin-square designs are needed.
Please note that configuration of the internal randomization settings should be done
before deploying the experiment project whereas the external randomization can be done
after deploying the experiment project (see Chapter 9 “Data source”).
2.5 Data Collection
Data can now be collected from the deployed version of the experiment. Double click on
the executable file in the deployed experiment directory or type in the .exe file name from
the command-line prompt. If the experiment uses a data source, a dialog will be
displayed, allowing the user to choose the appropriate data source file. In an EyeLink©
Experiment, the user will also be asked to enter the experiment session name. At the End
of experiment, an EDF file will be generated for EyeLink© recording session and saved
in the experiment directory. Optional result file(s) will be created if the user has
specified them in EyeLink© and non-EyeLink© experiments.
2.6 Data Analysis
EyeLink© recording file can be conveniently analyzed with EyeLink© Data Viewer as
the experiments created with Experiment Builder are fully integrated with this analysis
tool. Experiment Builder sends messages to the data file so that images or simple
drawing can be added as overlay background. The user can also specify trial variables,
create interest areas, and send messages for the ease of data analysis. The result file(s)
from a non-EyeLink© recording session contains columnar outputs for selected variables
in the experiment. This file can be easily loaded by common statistics packages.
SR Research Experiment Builder User Manual
©2004-2007 SR Research Ltd.
6