Creating Instructions

Now lets define how we will present instructions to subjects using the <instruct> element. A script should have only one such element.

<instruct>
/ fontstyle = ("Arial", 18pt, true)
/ nextlabel = "Press the spacebar to continue"
/ lastlabel = "Press the spacebar to continue"
/ nextkey = (" ")
</instruct>

We've set the font to 18pt Arial bold. We've also defined the labels that will appear on the buttons that allow subjects to proceed forward through our instruction pages. Finally, we've specified the spacebar key (represented by the space character, " ") as the key to press to advance.

Once we've defined how instruction pages will be presented, we have to create the pages themselves. This part is pretty easy. Note that the "^" character forces a line break. Otherwise, lines of text are word-wrapped.

<page inquisit>
^^The following sample illustrates how to create a covert attention task using Inquisit. 
</page>

<page intro1>
^Four boxes will be presented in each corner of the screen, and a fixation point will appear in the center of the screen. Keep your eyes focused on the fixation point throughout the entire experiment.
^^On each trial, the fixation point will change to an arrow pointing left or right. On 80% of the trials, the arrow points to the side of the screen on which one of the boxes will brighten. On the remaining 20% of the trials, the arrow points in the opposite direction.
</page>

<page intro2>
^Your task is to focus on the fixation point in the center of the screen and indicate whether a box brightened on the left or right side of the screen. If a box on the left brightens, hit the "A" key. If a box on the right brightens, hit the "S" key.
^^Remember: the arrow will usually point in the direction of the screen with the brighter box, so it is to your advantage to focus on the center fixation point. 
^^Press the space bar to begin practicing the task.
</page>

<page begin>
^^Practice is now complete. Press the space bar to begin the task.
</page>

<page finish>
^^Thank you for participating. The demo is now finished. 
</page>

Last, we'll define a special instruction page that we'll use to report performance feedback to our subjects.

<page performance>
^Performance Summary:
^^You gave the correct answer on <% block.covertattention.percentcorrect %> percent of the trials.
^^Your average response time was <% block.covertattention.meanlatency %> milliseconds.
</page>

Note the commands "<% block.covertattention.percentcorrect %>" and "<% block.covertattention.meanlatency %>" that appear in the page. These commands will be replaced by the percent correct and mean response latency for all trials in the block called "coverattention", which we will define a little bit later. Inquisit allows you to present a variety of accuracy and latency data to the subject in this way. See help on the page element for more information.

Creating Text Stimuli

Creating Trials