Logging data

how to collect and examine experimental data

Reading a PennController results file.
Comparing timestamps to calculate response time.

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By default, PennController logs only when a trial starts and when it ends. Use the log command to collect any other information.

The log command adds lines to the results file in the experiment project page’s Results folder. The information that is added depends on the element type that the log command is called on. To learn what information is added by calling log on a specific element type, visit that element type’s reference page under Elements.

instructions

Uncomment the DebugOff command, since we are now ready to collect data.
Call the log command on the "side-by_side" Canvas to log when the images are printed to the screen.
Call the log command on the "keypress" Key to log information about the participant’s keypress.

 
@// Type code below this line.
@
@// Remove command prefix
@PennController.ResetPrefix(null)
@
@// Turn off debugger
!DebugOff()
@
@// Instructions
@// code omitted in interest of space
@
@// Experimental trial
@newTrial("experimental-trial",
@    newAudio("fish-audio", "2fishRoundTank.mp3")
@        .play()
@    ,
@    newText("fish-sentence", "The fish swim in a tank which is perfectly round.")
@        .center()
@        .unfold(2676)
@    ,
@    newImage("fish-plural", "2fishRoundTank.png")    
@        .size(200, 200)
@    ,
@    newImage("fish-singular", "1fishSquareTank.png")
@        .size(200, 200)
@    ,   
@    newCanvas("side-by-side", 450,200)
@        .add(  0, 0, getImage("fish-plural"))
@        .add(250, 0, getImage("fish-singular"))
@        .center()
@        .print()
+        .log()
@    ,
@    newKey("keypress", "FJ")
+        .log()
@        .wait()
@    ,
@    getAudio("fish-audio")
@        .wait("first")
@)

Collecting data

instructions

Run the experiment to log data and look at the logged data:

Save and close the main.js file.
In the Results folder, delete any existing files.
Click the link at the top of the experiment project page to run the experiment.
Complete the experiment.
Click the Results folder refresh icon.
Open the results file:
- Click on results to open the results file as a pop-up window in the experiment project page; or
- Click on the eye icon under results to open the results file in a new tab; or
- Right-click on the eye icon, click Save Link As…, enter "results.csv" in the “Save As:” field, and click Save to save the results file as a comma-separated value (CSV) file.

Examining experimental results

The results file should look like the following:


#
# Results on...
# USER...
# Design number...
#
# Columns below this comment are as follows:
# 1. Time results were received.
# 2. MD5 hash of participant's IP address.
# 3. Controller name.
# 4. Item number.
# 5. Element number.
# 6. Type.
# 7. Group.
# 8. PennElementType.
# 9. PennElementName.
# 10. Parameter.
# 11. Value.
# 12. EventTime.
# 13. Comments.
1603390913,SOME_MD5_HASH,PennController,0,0,instructions,NULL,PennController,0,_Trial_,Start,1603390891064,NULL
1603390913,SOME_MD5_HASH,PennController,0,0,instructions,NULL,PennController,0,_Trial_,End,1603390892111,NULL
1603390913,SOME_MD5_HASH,PennController,1,0,experimental-trial,NULL,PennController,1,_Trial_,Start,1603390892115,NULL
1603390913,SOME_MD5_HASH,PennController,1,0,experimental-trial,NULL,Canvas,side-by-side,Print,NA,1603390892122,NULL
1603390913,SOME_MD5_HASH,PennController,1,0,experimental-trial,NULL,Key,keypress,PressedKey,F,1603390893835,Wait success
1603390913,SOME_MD5_HASH,PennController,1,0,experimental-trial,NULL,PennController,1,_Trial_,End,1603390894815,NULL

Rows that begin with the pound symbol # are either:

Comments that either provide logging meta-information; or
Column names for the comma-separated values.

Rows that do not begin with the pound symbol are logged information.

Relevant information contained in the five rows at the bottom:

"instructions" trial: started at the timestamp 1603390891064.
"instructions" trial: ended at the timestamp 1603390892111.
"experimental-trial" trial: started at the timetamp 1603390892115.
"side-by-side" Canvas was printed at the timestamp 1603390892122.
"keypress" Key: the participant pressed the F key at the timestamp 1603390893835.
"experimental-trial" trial: ended at the timestamp 1603390894815.

The timestamps are Unix timestamps in milliseconds, in other words the number of milliseconds since 00:00:00 UTC on January 1, 1970.

Calculating response times

You can compare timestamps to determine response times or event duration. For example, subtract the canvas timestamp from the keypress timestamp to determine how long it took for the participant to press a valid key: 1603390893835-1603390892122=1713 means that the participant took 2753ms to press the F key.

We recommend using the canvas and keypress timestamps to calculate response time, instead of using the trial start and keypress timestamp. We’ll add a one-second delay trial delay in the Advanced Tutorial, meaning that using the trial start timestamp would artificially inflate the response time by at least 1000ms.