Sub-experiments with different number of conditions

[angelica]

Hi Jeremy,

Is there a way to counterbalance sub-experiments that have a different number of conditions? I have one experiment (SC) with 4 conditions (A, B, C, D), and one experiment (Rep) with 2 conditions (1, 2). I’d like one participant to see items from SC-A and Rep-1; the next participant to see SC-B and Rep-2; the next to see SC-C and Rep-1; the next to see SC-D and Rep-2; and so on.

My workaround is to name the “group” variable for the Rep spreadsheet to “AC” and “BD”, and use GetTable.filter() with a regular expression.

PennController.ResetPrefix(null);                       // Initiates PennController
var showProgressBar = false;                            // Don't show progress bar

Sequence(shuffle(randomize("test_sc_items"), randomize("test_rep_items")))

// Trial item template 
customTrial = label => variable => newTrial( label ,
    defaultText
        .center()
        .cssContainer({"width": "350px"})
    ,
    // Display target word 
    newText("listen_for", "Listen for:")
        .italic()
    ,
    newText("target_word", variable.target)
        .css({"font-size": "200%"})        
    ,
    newText("next", "Press the spacebar to continue.")
        .italic()
    ,
    newCanvas(350, 300)
        .add(0, 100, getText("listen_for"))
        .add(0, 150, getText("target_word"))
        .add(0, 225, getText("next"))
        .print()
    ,
    newKey(" ")
        .wait()
    ,
    clear()
    ,
    // Play audio stimulus and record reaction time
    newImage("fixation_cross", "fixation_cross.png")
        .size(300, 300)
    ,
    newCanvas(300, 300)
        .add(0, 25, getImage("fixation_cross"))
        .print()
    ,
    newKey("reaction_time", " ")          
        .log("all")                         
    ,
    newAudio("stimulus", variable.stimulus)
        .play()
        .wait() 
    ,
	clear()
)
.log("group",               variable.group)
.log("item",                variable.item)
.log("condition",           variable.condition)
.log("target",              variable.target)

AddTable("test_rep",
	"group,item,condition,stimulus,target\n"+
	"AC,1,ambig,Rep_Ambig_1.wav,WATCH\n"+
	"BD,1,unambig,Rep_Unambig_1.wav,SCARF\n"+
	"BD,2,ambig,Rep_Ambig_2.wav,FINISH\n"+
	"AC,2,unambig,Rep_Unambig_2.wav,CONCLUSION\n"+
	"AC,3,ambig,Rep_Ambig_3.wav,GLARE\n"+
	"BD,3,unambig,Rep_Unambig_3.wav,LIGHT\n"+
	"BD,4,ambig,Rep_Ambig_4.wav,DRILL\n"+
	"AC,4,unambig,Rep_Unambig_4.wav,REHEARSAL"
)

AddTable("test_sc",
	"group,item,condition,stimulus,target\n"+
	"A,1,Clash.NoShift,SC_Clash_NoShift_1.wav,MEN\n"+
	"B,1,Clash.Shift,SC_Clash_Shift_1.wav,MEN\n"+
	"C,1,NoClash.NoShift,SC_NoClash_NoShift_1.wav,MEN\n"+
	"D,1,NoClash.Shift,SC_NoClash_Shift_1.wav,MEN\n"+
	"B,2,Clash.NoShift,SC_Clash_NoShift_2.wav,GUEST\n"+
	"C,2,Clash.Shift,SC_Clash_Shift_2.wav,GUEST\n"+
	"A,2,NoClash.NoShift,SC_NoClash_NoShift_2.wav,GUEST\n"+
	"D,2,NoClash.Shift,SC_NoClash_Shift_2.wav,GUEST\n"+
	"C,3,Clash.NoShift,SC_Clash_NoShift_3.wav,BOSS\n"+
	"D,3,Clash.Shift,SC_Clash_Shift_3.wav,BOSS\n"+
	"B,3,NoClash.NoShift,SC_NoClash_NoShift_3.wav,BOSS\n"+
	"A,3,NoClash.Shift,SC_NoClash_Shift_3.wav,BOSS\n"+
	"D,4,Clash.NoShift,SC_Clash_NoShift_4.wav,DOGS\n"+
	"A,4,Clash.Shift,SC_Clash_Shift_4.wav,DOGS\n"+
	"C,4,NoClash.NoShift,SC_NoClash_NoShift_4.wav,DOGS\n"+
	"B,4,NoClash.Shift,SC_NoClash_Shift_4.wav,DOGS"
)

// Experimental items    
Template(
    GetTable("test_sc")
        .filter("group", /A/)
    , 
    customTrial("test_sc_items"))
    
Template(
    GetTable("test_rep")
        .filter("group", /A/)
    , 
    customTrial("test_rep_items"))

I like that I can specify a specific group to be run (I can run participants in batches and change the group in between batches), but I was wondering if there’s a way to create something like a regular expression variable (in case I add more sub-experiments), or if there’s a different, better way in general.

Something like

newVar("grouping", RegExp(/A/))

Template(
    GetTable("test_sc")
        .filter("group", getVar("grouping"))
    , 
    customTrial("test_sc_items"))
    
Template(
    GetTable("test_rep")
        .filter("group", getVar("grouping"))
    , 
    customTrial("test_rep_items"))

Best,
Angelica

[Jeremy]

Hi Angelica,

That’s a smart solution! Though I reckon it would be best if there was a straightforward way of crossing the groups from the different tables. Your solution is probably optimal at the moment.

You can pass the group letter directly in the URL (eg. https://expt.pcibex.net/ibexexps/example/example/experiment.html?group=A) and retrieve it with GetURLParameter, like this:

Template(
    GetTable("test_sc")
        .filter( "group" , new RegExp(GetURLParameter("group")) )
    , 
    customTrial("test_sc_items")
)
    
Template(
    GetTable("test_rep")
        .filter( "group" , new RegExp(GetURLParameter("group")) )
    , 
    customTrial("test_rep_items")
)

EDIT: do you ever want a participant to see SC-A + Rep-2? If not, I’m not sure you even need any of this: PennController cycles through the groups independently from one table to the other, so SC-A (=0) and SC-C (=2) should always be paired with Rep-1 (=0), and SC-B (=1) and SC-D (=3) with Rep-2 (=1), because 2 mod 2 = 0 and 3 mod 2 = 1.

Example:

AddTable("firstTable", `group,item,Text
A,1,Item 1 Group A
B,1,Group B Item 1
C,1,item 1 group C
D,1,group D item 1
B,1,Item 2 Group B
C,1,Group C Item 2
D,1,item 2 group D
A,1,group A item 2`)

AddTable("secondTable", `group,item,Text
a,1,Item-Group: 1-a
b,1,Group-Item: b-1
b,2,Item-Group: 2-b
a,2,Group-Item: 2-a`)

SetCounter()

Template( "firstTable",  row => newTrial( newText("first table").print(),newButton(row.Text).print().wait() ) )
Template( "secondTable",  row => newTrial( newText("second table").print(),newButton(row.Text).print().wait() ) )

Jeremy

• This reply was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by Jeremy.

[angelica]

Hi Jeremy,

Passing the group letter in the URL is a good idea, thank you for pointing it out. And I didn’t realize the PennController built-in grouping would work that way, so that’s good to know. Thanks again!

[Author]

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