Habit News

Habit 2.1.25 released

5/12/2016

A new version of Habit, version 2.1.25, is available for download! You may install this version (if you choose) over your existing version - your experimental settings and results will be saved.

What's changed?

   Well, a lot, actually, but not much that you will see....yet. I've begun making some major changes under the hood, preparing for a major new release this summer (along with a long-awaited methods paper describing Habit2 and its many uses).
   There are several changes which you will see, along with some minor bug fixes that will clean up some problems that users have reported (THANK YOU to all of you who have taken the time to report errors and problems!).

You say "tomato"...

   Several users reported situations where they created experiments with valid stimuli, but found that the stimuli names were yellowed out in the "Stimuli" panel, or sometimes the "Stimuli Orders" panel of the Experiment Editor. The yellow color indicated a problem, but there was no clear reason (this occurred even when the stimuli were all valid files present on the computer).
   The bug (fixed in this version) was due to Habit2 using different "rules" for the names that can be given to stimuli. What was allowed as a name when the stimulus was added to the experiment was NOT allowed in other contexts within Habit. This inconsistency has been corrected.
   For the record, stimulus names (the names you give them, not their filenames) must adhere to the following rules. The dialog will enforce these rules as you type - so there isn't really a need to remember them. The rules are that a stimulus name:

must begin with a letter or number
contains letters, numbers, and/or these characters: space, _ (underscore), - (dash), ' (single quote)
trailing space(s) are trimmed before saving in the database

Results Viewer changes

The Results Viewer has been changed somewhat. Previously you could use the Results Viewer to view results and examine experiment settings in use when a particular result was obtained.
I've cleaned up the display a bit, and you will notice that two types of files are displayed: *.hab file (the results file written on completion of an experimental run), and *.csv file (exported results data for use in you analysis).

Double-clicking on a csv file will open that file in Excel (assuming you have Excel installed on your computer). Double-clicking on a results (*.hab) file will open that file and present you with 4 options (there used to be just 3):

The results widget displays a brief summary of the experimental run. Hitting the "Print" button will print that summary.
The "Export Event Log" button will generate a csv file containing all events recorded during the experiment. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE THIS FILE DIRECTLY FOR YOUR ANALYSIS! The file contains more information than is recorded in the regular csv results, but it is not intended for regular use. The meanings of the various entries in the file may not be clear from their names, and you may obtain results that are not accurate! Only use the regular csv results output!
The "View Experiment Settings" button will display (in read-only form) the experiment settings that were in use when the experiment was run.
New! The "Export CSV" button will re-generate the results csv file for this experiment. This can be useful when you have older results, but want to get the csv file with up-to-date format. Changes in the way Habit summarizes and displays the results can lead to results files with inconsistent formats. This button causes Habit to attempt a re-analysis of the event log and re-generates the csv file with the latest-and-greatest format and contents (see notes for the 2.1.19 release).

Habit 2.1.21 released

1/15/2016

A new version of Habit is available, with some small fixes and some larger changes. Many of the changes are in response to comments and/or suggestions from users who have downloaded Habit and are using it - THANK YOU!
You can download the latest version and install over your current version. All your settings will be preserved.

Bug Fixes and Changes in Habit 2.1.21

What happened to version 2.1.20? Nothing - I created that version and discovered a minor issue after creating it. I made the fix and created a new version. But let me remind you that you can always update Habit2 regardless of missing version numbers.
Main dialog appearance. The main dialog has been changed slightly. The title includes the version of Habit2, and the status bar (the gray panel at the bottom left of the dialog) shows the current workspace folder:

Intertrial interval. We've rearranged the settings for what we call the "Attention Getter". First, some background. In Habit2, a "trial" consists of an (optional) "Attention Getter" followed by a stimulus. Each trial, in all configured phases, will use the same "Attention Getter" sequence. We've generalized this to call it the "Intertrial Interval", and split the settings into two parts. One part is the "Intertrial stimulus". This stimulus can be any image, movie, or sound - same rules as for any stimulus. You may also select "Bkgd only", which will give a blank screen cleared to the background color you've selected. The second part of the Intertrial Interval settings page allow you to select one of three options:
1. Use Intertrial Stimulus as an attention getter. This tells Habit2 to use the configured stimulus as an attention getter, and each trial will pause (displaying the intertrial stimulus) until the experimenter indicates attention by pressing <Enter> or <Space>. This is the same behavior as in previous version of Habit.
2. Display intertrial stimulus for a fixed period. The configured intertrial stimulus will be displayed, but for a fixed time. The experimenter need NOT indicate attention, the trial will proceed after the time entered. In the screenshot below, I've configured this to be 5s (5000ms).
3. No intertrial interval. This tells Habit2 to use no intertrial stimulus. Each trial stimulus is followed IMMEDIATELY by the stimulus for the subsequent trial. This is equivalent to having had "Use Attention Stimulus" un-checked in previous versions of Habit2.

Habit 2.1.19 released

12/4/2015

A number of changes and fixes have been rolled into one release. We've also been fielding a few questions about Habit now that people are downloading and using it. I'll update you on the fixes below, and I'll also answer some of the more common questions.

As always, you may download the latest Habit and install over your existing version. Your existing settings and experimental results will be preserved across versions.

Bug fixes and changes in 2.1.19

There has been a tricky bug (now fixed) that can crop up when you use an Attention Getter (AG). When the AG is presented, the experimenter should hit the <Enter> key to start the trial, and then use the keypad keys (e.g. <4>, <5>, or <6>) to indicate looking behavior. If those keys were hit in quick succession, Habit sometimes missed the <4,5,6>! This is now fixed! Of course, I thought I had fixed it a couple of weeks ago, but I think I really got it this time!
Stimulus sizing has been fixed. The Stimulus Display page of the experiment editor allows you to choose whether habit should display your stimuli files at their original size, or at full screen. When displaying stimuli at their original size, and the stimuli is smaller than the screen used to display it, Habit will center the stimulus and fill in the edges with the background color you've chosen. When you choose to display stimuli full screen, Habit will resize the stimulus (if needed) to fill the screen. You can check the Maintain Original Aspect Ratio box, and Habit will choose the maximum size of the stimulus which fits on the screen and preserves the aspect ratio of the original (and fill in the edges with the Background Color). If the Maintain Original Aspect Ratio box is unchecked, then Habit will stretch (and possibly distort) the stimulus to fill the entire screen. Note that in the stimulus preview (seen when you configure stimulus for any of the phases), the "screen" is always a 4:3 aspect ratio, which may differ from your display screen.

CSV output has been enhanced. You will now find a second stanza in the output. The first stanza is as it was before - a trial-by-trial listing of stimuli, full looks, habituation status, and trial results. The new second stanza is an exhaustive listing of all looking, even looking that does not qualify as a Complete Look as you specify them in the Look Settings. Here is a sample of the new format. In trials 2, 3, and 4 there is looking shown in the second stanza which does not amount to a Complete Look (the min look time is 1000ms, min look away time is 200ms for this sample). Those brief looks are not shown in the first stanza as complete looks.

Notes and Frequently Asked Questions

Using a beeping box? To use it as your Attention Getter, first check Use Attention Stimulus in the Attention Getter panel of the experiment editor:

Next, hit the Modify button and select the sound file you wish to use as the "S" (sound) stim. For the screens ("C" for center/single monitor experiments, "L"/"R" for dual monitor experiments), you may select a stim file or you can just check "bkgd only (no stim)", and the screen will change to the background color during the attention getter. The Loop checkbox tells Habit to play the sound file in a loop; if unchecked, the sound file is played once to completion.

Habit 2.1.18 released

11/2/2015

We've rolled a few bug fixes (many thanks to those of you who have reported bugs!) into this updated version. Download the update and install over your existing version of Habit. All your current settings will be preserved.

Changes from version 2.1.16

Display and results now number trials starting at trial 1 (not trial 0..... long story, ask a programmer;). This is true for the results widget that is shown immediately on completing an experimental run, the output CSV file, as well as in the live experiment status widget (if you have chosen to display current experiment phase/trial in "Control Panel Display Options").
Add option "Display Current Looking Direction" in "Control Panel Display Options". When checked, the current looking direction (e.g. "LookCenter") will be displayed in the Control Panel while your experiment is running.
The stimulus previewer now handles stimulus orders. Forward/reverse navigation buttons are available, as well as a "stop" button.
Stimuli for single-screen experiments are not pre-loaded and cached. Previously, large stimuli could use up all available memory and cause a crash. For single-screen experiments, it is not necessary to cache stimuli. In two-screen experiments, however, the stimuli are cached to minimize the time difference in the onset of the two stimuli. In such experiments, large stimuli can cause a crash if all available memory is taken up.
In experiments that use attention getters, if the experimenter makes a fast transition from the "Attention"(Enter) key and a "Looking"(4,5,6) key, Habit will correctly respond to the key transition and looking will be recorded. Previously, the start of the looking period would be missed entirely.
Global preferences now has a checkbox to use the default stimulus root folder for the workspace. For each workspace the default stimulus root folder is the stim/ folder in the workspace. This is a convenience for cases where you group a set of similar experiments (which all use the same set of stimuli) in a single workspace. Simply check the default stim root folder checkbox in the preferences dialog and you're set!

Habit 2.1.16 released

8/18/2015

We are pleased to announce the release of Habit 2.1.16.

This version incorporates a stimulus previewer into the experiment editor, which allows you to quickly preview your stimuli and ordered stimuli sets.

The results for each experiment are stored in a separate folder (each named with the experiment name) under the results folder in your workspace. This allows you to more easily find results when you have multiple versions of the same experiment configured.

Habit 2.1.14 released

5/28/2015

Habit 2.1.14 has been released. This version modifies the output format for CSV files to include a column for the order used to order the stimuli in a given phase. Existing experiment settings are not affected; install over an existing instance.