Managing Steps for Experimental Protocol

An experimental protocol is composed of steps. A single step may be used more than once in the same experiment. The protocol of an experiment is defined by organizing the uses of steps in a way that determines the moment in which they should happen. This is done inside each group of participant, because the experimental protocol of a group might be different from the experimental protocol of another group. NES allows register the following types of steps:

List of Steps

All the steps already created for specifying the protocols of the experiments are listed when you click the Manage button while visualizing an Experiments. Steps that are still not in use anywhere in the experiment are also listed.

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From this screen, you can create new steps by clicking the Insert New Step button and choosing one of the available types. All types have at least an identification, and may have a description and a duration, which is composed of a value and a unit. Possible units are: millisecond, second, minute, hour, day, week, month and year. From this screen you can also see / edit information of a specific step by clicking the link that shows its identification. While viewing / editing a step, you can delete it by clicking the Delete button. However, this button is visible only for the users that have Permissions to update the experiment. If you remove a step, you are also removing all the uses of this step.

See the following sections for specificities of each type of step:

Instruction

An instruction contains:

  • An identification (obligatory);

  • A description;

  • A duration;

  • The text of the instruction (obligatory); and

  • Additional files.

../../_images/edit_instruction.png

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Pause

A pause contains:

  • An identification (obligatory);

  • A description; and

  • A duration (obligatory); and

  • Additional files.

../../_images/create_pause.png

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Questionnaire

A questionnaire contains:

  • An identification (obligatory);

  • A description;

  • A duration;

  • The name of a questionnaire at LimeSurvey (obligatory); and

  • Additional files.

../../_images/edit_questionnaire.png

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Set of Steps

The set of steps is a special type of step, because it is used to aggregate uses of other steps in a way that defines the moment in which they should happen. Thus, we explain about a set of steps in detail in Configuring an Experimental Protocol.

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Stimulus

A stimulus contains:

  • An identification (obligatory);

  • A description;

  • A duration;

  • A type (obligatory);

  • A media file containing the file of the stimulus; and

  • Additional files.

The type of stimulus may be one of the types registered in the NES database. The Script for creating initial data includes the following types: Auditory, Olfactory, Visual, Somatosensory, Interoceptive and Gustative.

../../_images/stimulus_step.png

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Task for the Experimenter or Task for the Subject

Both a task for the experimenter or a task for the subject contains:

  • An identification (obligatory);

  • A description;

  • A duration; and

  • Additional files.

../../_images/edit_task_for_the_participant.png

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EEG

A EEG step represents that an Electroencephalography will be performed at this moment of the experiment. The setting of this step must be registered previously and defines how all EEG equipment are configured. An EEG step contains:

  • An identification (obligatory);

  • A duration;

  • A description; and

  • An EEG setting (obligatory).

../../_images/eeg_step.png

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EMG

An EMG step represents that an Electromyography will be performed at this moment of the experiment. An EMG step contains:

  • An identification (obligatory);

  • A duration;

  • A description; and

  • An EMG setting (obligatory).

../../_images/emg_step.png

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TMS

An TMS step represents that a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation will be performed at this moment of the experiment. An TMS step contains:

  • An identification (obligatory);

  • A duration;

  • A description; and

  • An TMS setting (obligatory).

../../_images/tms_step.png

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Goalkeeper game phase

An Goalkeeper game phase step represents that an Goalkeeper game phase will be performed at this moment of the experiment. An Goalkeeper game phase step contains:

  • An identification (obligatory);

  • A duration;

  • A description;

  • The software version of the Goalkeeper game used in the experiment (obligatory); and

  • The context tree (obligatory).

../../_images/goalkeeper_game_phase_step.png

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Generic data collection

A Generic data collection contains:

  • An identification (obligatory);

  • A description;

  • A duration; and

  • A type (obligatory).

The type of Generic data collection may be one of the types registered in the NES database. They can be of the following types: kinematic measures, Stabilometry, Response time, Psychophysical measures, Verbal response, Psychometric scale, Unit recording and Multiunit recording.

../../_images/generic_data_step.png

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