visual dmdx: a web-based authoring tool for...

43rd annual meeting of the Society for Computers in Psychology (SCiP)Toronto, Canada, November 14th, 2013

Pablo Garaizar, University of Deusto, SpainJulen Tellería, University of Deusto, SpainUlf-Dietrich Reips, University of Konstanz, Germany

Visual DMDX: A web-based authoring tool for DMDX

● Experimental software● DMDX

● Benefits● Pitfalls● DMDX tutorials

● Visual DMDX● Demo● Future plans

● Q&A

Outline

2

Experimental software

3

Several software packages availableCategorized by different dimensions

(Mathôt, Schreij, & Theeuwes, 2012)

Open source vs.closed source

Offline vs.online

General purpose vs. specific

Single-platform vs. multiplatform

Commercial vs.non-commercial

Our goal: Provide a web-based editor for novice DMDX users

http://visualdmdx.com

DMDX

6

It is precise and accurateEven in commodity hardware

(Forster & Forster, 2003)

Low-level drawing and timing APIs

Fine tunning via TimeDX

7

LOW PRECISION LOW ACCURACY LOW RESOLUTION

It is powerfulYou can do almost everything using its syntax

CC-by-nc-sa joeshlabotnik, http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/7405703154

Loops Scramblingitems

Conditionalbranching

8

It is freeNot open source

CC-by-nc-sa inggmartinez, http://www.flickr.com/photos/inggmartinez/51509339069

But...

10

DMDX/DMASTR syntax is not easyYou can do almost everything using its syntax

http://www.u.arizona.edu/~jforster/dmdx/help/dmdxhallkeywordssortedbykeyword.htm

A 30-year-old syntax(counters, branches, etc.)

414 keywords(224 synonyms)

11

Most DMDX users are not really interested in coding experiments, but running them

CC-by epicfireworks, http://www.flickr.com/photos/epicfireworks/3637583621

Copy & Paste SorceryReplace-All+ =

12

There are (very) good tutorialsSome of them habe been abandoned

CC-by-sa shardsofblue, http://www.flickr.com/photos/shardsofblue/5554706066

Use DMDX(N. Jiang)

DM Tutorial(A. Woollams)

Introduction to DMDX(M. Ford > M. Davis >

I. Darcy > A. Lukyanchenko)

DM/DMTG Tutorial(K. Forster)

DMDX for Eegits(A. Woods)

DMDX Resources(J.J. Curtin)

13

They cover the basicsItem files: parameters + items

http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/personal/matt.davis/dmdx-tutorial/img028.jpg1414

Visual DMDX: Added value

15

Web-basedHTML5 + CSS + JavaScript (see also McClelland & Reips. 2013)

CC-by-nc-sa stralunato, http://www.flickr.com/photos/stralunato/5298672103

Multiplatform(Win/Mac/Linux/IOS/Android/...)

Work from anywhere, anytime

No plugins needed

16

authoring toolNo DMDX-syntax skills needed

(Garaizar, Tellería, & Reips, 2013)17

for DMDXInteded for beginners (and/or procrastinators)

CC-by-nc-sa Leo Reynolds, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/7694808786

43 keywords(18 synonyms)

Versioning(undo)

Contextual help Previews

18

Demo

19

1. Access http://visualdmdx.com

http://visualdmdx.com20

2. Create a new project

http://visualdmdx.com21

3. Define parameters

http://visualdmdx.com/edit/7qvofp22

4. Add items: Instructions

http://visualdmdx.com/edit/7qvofp23

5. Add items: Stimuli

http://visualdmdx.com/edit/7qvofp24

http://visualdmdx.com/edit/7qvofp

5. Add items: Clone

25

6. Looping and scrambling items

http://visualdmdx.com/edit/7qvofp26

7. Preview

http://visualdmdx.com/edit/7qvofp27

8. Export

http://visualdmdx.com/edit/7qvofp28

9. Contextual help

http://visualdmdx.com/edit/7qvofp29

10. Versioning (undo, nice URLs)

http://visualdmdx.com/edit/7qvofp/130

Future plans

31

Future plansSuggestions are very welcome ;)

CC-by-nd h.koppdelaney, http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/3629569854

Improvepreviews

Set expertiselevel

Add morekeywords

Export toother formats

32

Q&A

33

Thank you ;)

34

● Darcy, I. (2010). DMDX Introductory Tutorial. Retrieved from: http://www.iub.edu/~psyling/resources/dmdx-tutorial_id_2010.pdf

● Forster, K. I., & Forster, J. C. (2003). DMDX: A Windows display program with millisecond accuracy. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 35(1), 116-124.

● Garaizar, P., Telleria, J, & Reips, U-D. (2013). Visual DMDX: A web-based authoring tool for DMDX. 43rd annual meeting of the Society for Computers in Psychology (SCiP). Toronto, Canada, November 14th, 2013.

● Lukyanchenko, A. (2012). Introduction to DMDX. Retrieved from: http://www.terpconnect.umd.edu/~lav/pdfs/DMDX_Lukyanchenko.pdf

● Mathô, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 1–11.

● Jiang, N. (2012). Conducting reaction time research in second language studies. Routledge.

● Woods, A. (2009). DMDX for Eegits. Retrieved from: http://www.opensourcesci.com/DMDX/DMDX_for_Eegits.pdf

References

35

All rights of images are reserved by the original owners*, the rest of the

content is licensed under a Creative Commons by-sa 3.0 license

* see references in each slide

36