Server issues?

[mawilson]

I opened up a study a few hours ago and am getting many participants who have been unable to complete it (16 attempted before I noticed the issue and paused data collection). One reported getting stuck on the “Sending results to server…” page. The demo link is here: https://farm.pcibex.net/r/VMAdHG/. When I go through it I’m able to get past the “Sending results” stage, but it does hang there for a bit. Is there something I’ve done wrong in the script, or are there server issues today (or something else)?

Here’s the script:

PennController.ResetPrefix(null) // Shorten command names (keep this line here)
DebugOff()

SetCounter('setcounter')

var counterOverride = 0

var required_to_pass = 0.9
var required_to_pass_perc = String(Math.round(required_to_pass * 100))
var max_attempts = 5
var MS_PER_WORD = 1// 325 (reduced for testing)

var blank_style = {
	border: '1px solid #000', 
	width: '5.75em', 
	position: 'relative', 
	'padding-top': '5px',
	top: '-3px'
}

var dropped_word_style = {
	border: '', padding: '', width: blank_style['width'], 
	'text-align': 'center',
	'margin-left': '-0.5em', 'margin-top': '-0px'
}

var centered_justified_style = {
	"text-align": "justify", 
	margin: '0 auto', 
	'margin-bottom': '3em',
	width: '30em'
}

function SepWithN(sep, main, n) {
	this.args = [sep,main];

	this.run = function(arrays) {
		assert(arrays.length == 2, "Wrong number of arguments (or bad argument) to SepWithN");
		assert(parseInt(n) > 0, "N must be a positive number");
		let sep = arrays[0];
		let main = arrays[1];

		if (main.length <= 1)
			return main
		else {
			let newArray = [];
			while (main.length){
				for (let i = 0; i < n && main.length>0; i++)
					newArray.push(main.pop());
				for (let j = 0; j < sep.length && main.length > 0; ++j)
					newArray.push(sep[j]);
			}
			return newArray;
		}
	}
}
function sepWithN(sep, main, n) { return new SepWithN(sep, main, n); }

Sequence(
	"setcounter",
	"consent",
	"instruction1",
	randomize("trial_prac"),
	"instruction2",
	// randomize("trial_train"), 'post-training',
	randomize("trial_train_rep00"),
	randomize("trial_train_rep01"), 'post-training',
	randomize("trial_train_rep1"), 'post-training',
	randomize("trial_train_rep2"), 'post-training',
	randomize("trial_train_rep3"), 'post-training',
	randomize("trial_train_rep4"), 'post-training',
	"instruction3",
	sepWithN('break', randomize("trial"), 44),
	"feedback",
	SendResults(),
	"bye"
)

newTrial("consent",
	newText(
		"Before starting the experiment, you will need to give consent. " + 
		"Please click <a href='https://campuspress.yale.edu/michaelwilson/files/2022/09/consent.pdf' target='_blank'>here</a> to download the consent form for this study. " +
		"If you read it and agree to participate in this study, click 'I Agree' below. " + 
		"If you do not agree to participate in this study, you can leave this page by closing the tab or window."
	)
		.css(centered_justified_style)
		.print()
	,
	
	newButton("Agree", "I Agree")
		.center()
		.print()
		.wait()
).setOption("countsForProgressBar", false)

newTrial("instruction1",
	newText(
		"In this experiment, you will be doing a fill-in-the-blank task. " + 
		"First, you will see a sentence with two blanks in it. " +
		"Below it, there will be a dash. " + 
		"After a delay to give you time to read the sentence, a word will appear in a box where the dash was. " +
		"When the word appears, you should drag it to the blank " +
		"in the sentence where you think it goes best. " +
		"After you have filled a blank with the word, you will see a \"Next\" button, which you can click " +
		"to go to the next item.<p />" +
		
		"Since you will only fill in one of the two blanks, " +
		"<b>the sentence will still be missing one word at the end of each trial</b>.<p />" + 
		
		"First, you will do some practice to get you used to how this works. " +
		"During the practice, you will get feedback on whether you chose the correct blank for the word, " +
		"and if you chose incorrectly, you should move the word to the correct blank to continue. " +
		"However, you will not get feedback during the main part of the experiment.<p />" +
		
		"Click below when you are ready to begin practice."
	)
		.css(centered_justified_style)
		.print()
	,

	newButton("Click here to begin practice!")
		.center()
		.print()
		.wait()
).setOption("countsForProgressBar", false)

var feedback_trial = label => item => {
	var word_num	 = Math.floor(Math.random() * 8)
	var target_res   = label.startsWith('trial_train') ? item['target_response'] : (word_num <= 3 ? '[subj]' : '[obj]')
	var word		 = label === 'trial_prac' ? item['word_' + word_num] : item.word
	var presentence  = item.sentence.match(/^(.*?)(?=\[(su|o)bj\])/g)[0] + '&nbsp;'
	var midsentence  = item.sentence.match(/(?:\[(su|o)bj\])(.*?)(?=\[(su|o)bj\])/)[2] + '&nbsp;'
	var midsentence  = midsentence.startsWith(',') ? midsentence : '&nbsp;' + midsentence
	var postsentence = item.sentence.match(/.*(?:\[(su|o)bj\])(.*?)$/)[2]
	var postsentence = postsentence.startsWith(',') | postsentence.startsWith('.') ? postsentence : '&nbsp;' + postsentence
	var first_arg	 = item.sentence.match(/\[(su|o)bj\]/g)[0]
	var second_arg   = item.sentence.match(/\[(su|o)bj\]/g)[1]
	
	return newTrial(label,
		newText("word", word).css({width: '', border: '1px solid #000', padding: '3px'}).center(),
		
		newMouseTracker("mouse").log(),
		newFunction("startmouse", async () => {
			await new Promise(r => getText("word")._element.jQueryContainer.mousedown(r))
			getMouseTracker("mouse").start()._runPromises()
		}),
		
		newVar('trial_no')
			.global()
			.test.is(v => v >= 1)
				.success(getVar('trial_no').set(v => label === 'trial_prac' ? 0 : v + 1))
				.failure(getVar('trial_no').set(v => label === 'trial_prac' ? 0 : 1))
		,
		newVar('responses', []).global(),
		newVar('grandaverage', 0).global()
			.test.is(v => v >= required_to_pass).success(end()),
		newVar('firstdropped', 'no drop yet'),
		
		newText("container", "").center().css({display: "flex", 'margin-bottom': '3em'}).print(),
		newText(presentence).print(getText("container")),
		newText(first_arg, " ").css(blank_style).print(getText("container")),
		newText(midsentence).print(getText("container")),
		newText(second_arg, " ").css(blank_style).print(getText("container")),
		newText(postsentence).print(getText("container")),
		
		newText("placeholder", "&mdash;").center().print(),
		newTimer("wait", item.sentence.split(" ").length * MS_PER_WORD).start().wait(),
		getText("placeholder").remove(),
		
		getText("word").print(),
	   	
		getFunction("startmouse").call(),
		
		newText("correct", "Good job&mdash;that's the right choice!").css('color', 'rgb(34, 139, 34)').center(),
		newText("incorrect", "That's not the right one&mdash;try moving the word to the other blank!").css('color', 'rgb(188, 74, 60)').center(),
		
		newDragDrop("dd", "bungee")
			.log("all")
			.addDrop(getText(first_arg), getText(second_arg))
			.addDrag(getText("word"))
			.callback(
				getText("correct").remove(), getText("incorrect").remove(),
				self.test.dropped(getText(target_res))
					.success(
						getText("correct").print(),
						getMouseTracker("mouse").stop(),
						getVar('firstdropped').test.is(v => v === 'no drop yet')
							.success(
								getVar('trial_no').test.is(v => label === 'trial_train_rep00' ? false : (label === 'trial_prac' ? false : true))
									.success(getVar('responses').set(v => [true, ...v]))
							)
					)
					.failure(
						getText("incorrect").print(),
						getVar('firstdropped').test.is(v => v === 'no drop yet')
							.success(
								getVar('firstdropped').set('dropped already'),
								getVar('trial_no').test.is(v => label === 'trial_train_rep00' ? false : (label === 'trial_prac' ? false : true))
									.success(getVar('responses').set(v => [false, ...v]))
							)
					),
					getText("word").css(dropped_word_style)
			)
			.offset('0.5em', '0.1em', getText(first_arg), getText(second_arg))
			.wait(self.test.dropped(getText(target_res)))
			.removeDrag(getText("word"))
			.removeDrop(getText(first_arg), getText(second_arg))
		,
		
		newButton("next", "Next").center().print().wait().remove()
	)
	.log('item'				, item.item)
	.log('word'				, word)
	.log('target_response' 	, target_res)
	.log('args_group'	  	, item.group)
	.log('sentence_type'   	, item.sentence_type)
	.log('sentence'			, item.sentence)
	.log('adverb'		  	, item.adverb)
	.log('seen_in_training'	, 'True')
}

Template("practice.csv", feedback_trial('trial_prac'))

newTrial('post-training',
	newVar('message')
		.global()
	,
	newVar('attempts', 0)
		.global()
		.set(v => v + 1)
	,
	newVar('grandaverage')
		.global()
		.test.is(v => v >= required_to_pass)
		.failure(
			getVar('grandaverage')
				.set(getVar('responses'))
				.set(v => v.filter(r => r == true).length/v.length)
		)
	,
	getVar('grandaverage')
		.test.is(v => v >= required_to_pass)
		.success(
			getVar('message')
				.test.is('Great job!')
					.success(end())
					.failure(getVar('message').set('Great job!'))
		)
		.failure(
			getVar('attempts')
				.test.is(v => v < max_attempts)
					.success(
						getVar('message').set(
							'Please try again. Remember, you should try to pay attention ' +
							'to where different words go best in sentences with <i>blork</i>.'
						)
					)
					.failure(getVar('message').set(''))
		)
	,
	newVar('grandaveragepercent')
		.set(getVar('grandaverage'))
		.set(v => Math.round(v * 100) + '%.')
	,
	newVar('responses').global().set([]),
	newText("Your first-choice accuracy was&nbsp;")
		.after(
			newText().text(getVar('grandaveragepercent'))
		)
		.css('margin-bottom', '3em')
		.center()
		.print()
	,
	getVar('message')
		.test.is(v => v === 'Great job!')
			.success(
				newText()
					.text(getVar('message'))
					.css('margin-bottom', '3em')
					.center()
					.print()
			)
			.failure(
				newText()
					.text(getVar('message'))
					.css(centered_justified_style)
					.print()
			)
	,
	newButton('Next')
		.center()
		.print()
		.wait()
)

newTrial("instruction2",
	newText(
		"You have now finished the practice session! Next, you will move on " +
		"to the first part of the experiment, which is a training session.<p />" +
		
		"During training, you will learn about a new word, <i>blork</i>. " +
		"You will see sentences like the following: "
	)
		.css(centered_justified_style)
		.print()
	,
	
	newText("container", "").center().css({display: "flex", 'margin-bottom': '3em'}).print(),
	newText("The&nbsp;").print(getText("container")),
	newText("firstblank", " ").css(blank_style).print(getText("container")),
	newText("&nbsp;has always blorked the&nbsp;").print(getText("container")),
	newText("secondblank", " ").css(blank_style).print(getText("container")),
	newText(".").print(getText("container")),
	
	newText(
		"Just like in the sentences you saw during the practice session, " +
		"you will find that some words go better in certain slots than others in sentences with <i>blork</i>."+ 
		"Your task during this training phase is to figure out this pattern: where do different words go best " +
		"in sentences with <i>blork</i>?<p />" +
		
		"As you begin training, you should start by guessing which blank the word should go in. " +
		"If you guess wrong, you will see a message that you should have chosen the other blank. " +
		"Then, you'll need to move the word from the wrong blank to the right one to continue on. " +
		"You should use this feedback to help you learn.<p />" +
		
		"Because we want you to learn as much as you can about the pattern of words in sentences with <i>blork</i>, " +
		"we would like you to continue the training process until you are able to choose correctly " + required_to_pass_perc + "% of the time. " +
		"We'll let you repeat the training session a number of times until you reach " + required_to_pass_perc  + "% accuracy, " +
		"and give you feedback on how you did at the end of each session. " +
		"In any case, don't worry if you have difficulty: there is a limit on how many sessions " +
		"we will ask you to do, even if you aren't able to reach " + required_to_pass_perc + "%.<p />" +
		
		"The first several trials of the first training session will be a warm-up. " +
		"This warm-up won't count towards your accuracy, so feel free to guess for a few trials " +
		"while you are figuring out where different words go best in sentences with <i>blork</i>. " +
		"We ask that you please don't write anything down, and just try to figure things out on your own.<p />" +
		
		"When you are finished with the training session, you will see one more message before " +
		"going on to the last part of the experiment, which is a test session.<p />" +
		"Click below when you are ready to begin the training session."
	)
		.css(centered_justified_style)
		.print()
	,
	
	newButton("Click here to begin training!")
		.center()
		.print()
		.wait()
)

Template("train_rep1.csv", feedback_trial('trial_train_rep00'))
Template("train_rep2.csv", feedback_trial('trial_train_rep01'))
Template("train_rep1.csv", feedback_trial('trial_train_rep1'))
Template("train_rep2.csv", feedback_trial('trial_train_rep2'))
Template("train_rep1.csv", feedback_trial('trial_train_rep3'))
Template("train_rep2.csv", feedback_trial('trial_train_rep4'))

newTrial("instruction3",
	newText(
		"Now, you are ready to start the last part of the experiment! " +
		"In this part, which is a test session, you will see many sentences. " +
		"Most will have the new word, <i>blork</i>, which you just learned about, " +
		"and others will have words you already know.<p />" +
		
		"Remember, your job is to decide which blank the word below the sentence goes best in. " +
		"During the test session, you will not get any feedback about your choice, " +
		"and you will not be able to change your first choice. Make sure to try your best, and good luck!<p />" +
		
		"During this part of the experiment, you will have the opportunity to take two short breaks partway through. " +
		"We ask that you take only as much time as you need, so that you don't forget what you just " +
		"learned about words that go with <i>blork</i>!<p />" +
		
		"Click below when you are ready to begin the test session."
	)
		.css(centered_justified_style)
		.print()
	,

	newButton("Click here to begin the test session!")
		.center()
		.print()
		.wait()
)

var trial = group_label => item => {
	var word_num		 = Math.floor(Math.random() * 12)
	var target_res		 = group_label == 'filler_group' ? (word_num <= 5 ? '[subj]' : '[obj]') : item.target_response
	var word			 = group_label == 'filler_group' ? item['word_' + word_num] : item.word
	var presentence		 = item.sentence.match(/^(.*?)(?=\[(su|o)bj\])/g)[0] + '&nbsp;'
	var midsentence 	 = item.sentence.match(/(?:\[(su|o)bj\])(.*?)(?=\[(su|o)bj\])/)[2] + '&nbsp;'
	var midsentence 	 = midsentence.startsWith(',') ? midsentence : '&nbsp;' + midsentence
	var postsentence	 = item.sentence.match(/.*(?:\[(su|o)bj\])(.*?)$/)[2]
	var postsentence 	 = postsentence.startsWith(',') | postsentence.startsWith('.') ? postsentence : '&nbsp;' + postsentence
	var first_arg		 = item.sentence.match(/\[(su|o)bj\]/g)[0]
	var second_arg		 = item.sentence.match(/\[(su|o)bj\]/g)[1]
	var seen_in_training = group_label == 'filler_group' ? 'NA' : item.seen_in_training
	
	return newTrial("trial",		
		newText("container", "").center().css({display: "flex", 'margin-bottom': '3em'}).print(),
		newText(presentence).print(getText("container")),
		newText(first_arg, " ").css(blank_style).print(getText("container")),
		newText(midsentence).print(getText("container")),
		newText(second_arg, " ").css(blank_style).print(getText("container")),
		newText(postsentence).print(getText("container")),
		
		newText("placeholder", "&mdash;").center().print(),
		newTimer("wait", item.sentence.split(" ").length * MS_PER_WORD).start().wait(),
		getText("placeholder").remove(),
		
		newText("word", word).css({border: '1px solid #000', padding: '3px'}).center().print(),
		
		newMouseTracker("mouse").log(),
		newFunction(async () => {
			await new Promise(r => getText("word")._element.jQueryContainer.mousedown(r))
			getMouseTracker("mouse").start()._runPromises()
		}).call(),
		
		newDragDrop("dd", "bungee")
			.log("all")
			.addDrop(getText(first_arg), getText(second_arg))
			.addDrag(getText("word"))
			.callback()
			.offset('0.5em', '0.1em', getText(first_arg), getText(second_arg))
			.wait()
			.removeDrag(getText("word"))
			.removeDrop(getText(first_arg), getText(second_arg))
		,
		
		getMouseTracker("mouse").stop(),
		
		getText("word").css(dropped_word_style),
		
		newButton("next", "Next").center().print().wait().remove()
	)
	.log('item'				, item.item)
	.log('word'				, word)
	.log('target_response' 	, target_res)
	.log('args_group'	  	, item[group_label])
	.log('sentence_type'   	, item.sentence_type)
	.log('sentence'			, item.sentence)
	.log('adverb'		  	, item.adverb)
	.log('seen_in_training'	, seen_in_training)
}

Template("stimuli.csv", trial("group"))
Template("fillers.csv", trial("filler_group"))

newTrial('break',
	newText('You may now take a short break. ' +
			'Please don\'t take too long, so you don\'t forget what you know about <i>blork</i>! ' +
			'Click below when you are ready to return to the experiment.')
		.print()
	,
	newButton('click', 'Click here to return to the experiment!')
		.center()
		.print()
		.wait()
)

newTrial("feedback",
	newText(
		"If you have any feedback on the experiment, please type it here. " +
		"We would be especially interested to hear if you have any thoughts " +
		"about whether you thought of words that might be similar in meaning to <i>blork</i>.<p />" +
		
		"We would also like to know what guesses you may have about what determines where different " +
		"words can go with <i>blork</i>.<p />" +
		
		"If you don't have any feedback, " +
		"you can leave this blank and continue by pressing \"Send\" below."
	)
		.css(centered_justified_style)
		.print()
	,

	newTextInput("feedback", "")
		.center()
		.log()
		.lines(0)
		.size(420, 200)
		.print()
	,
	
	newText("<p />").center().print(),

	newButton("Send")
		.center()
		.print()
		.wait()
)

newTrial("bye",
	newText(
		"Thank you for participating!<p />" +
		
		"Please go to the following web page to verify your participation: " +
		"<a href='https://app.prolific.co/submissions/complete?cc=CEU2H725' target='_blank'>" +
		"https://app.prolific.co/submissions/complete?cc=CEU2H725" +
		"</a>."
	)
		.css({'margin': 'auto', 'text-align': 'center', 'width': '30em'})
		.print()
	,
	
	newButton().wait()  // Wait for a click on a non-displayed button = wait here forever
)
.setOption("countsForProgressBar", false)

[Jeremy]

Hello,

The farm has been undergoing severe slowdowns for the past few days that cause many requests to fail. In case you haven’t received the general announcement that was sent to the mailing list, I am copying it below

Apologies for the inconvenience,
Jeremy

Dear PCIbex Farm Users,

As many of you will already have noticed, the farm is unfortunately continuing to experience massive slow-downs or be inaccessible. We are still investigating the cause of this, and hope to have an update soon. For the moment, we recommend pausing data collection and results retrieval. Rest assured that there is no reason to worry about projects or data you have on there, the current issues are just a matter of access, so there’s no risk of data loss.

While we will try to get things back up and running ASAP, this may take a few days. We appreciate your patience and understanding!

Best,
Florian & Jeremy

[mawilson]

Ah, I see. Thanks for the info!

I don’t think I’m on the mailing list; would it be possible for me to sign up for it so I can get these announcements directly? I can’t seem to find anything on the main site (but I could well be missing something).

• This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by mawilson.

[Jeremy]

The mailing list consists of all the (non-manually unsubscribed) email addresses associated with an account on the farm. Double-check your email address in your profile under “Request change of email address” > “New email address”; if it’s incorrect, enter your current password in “Confirm your password” and your new email address in the appropriate field, and click “Send request” under that field

Jeremy

[mawilson]

Ah, that’d be it—I’ve changed institutions and hadn’t updated the email address. Thank you!

[Author]

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