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.