counterPart
Experiments
counterPart puts a “Part i of n” progress label on instructions screens. Every instructions row with a non-empty value in counterPart becomes one countable “part”; when that instructions screen is shown, the label Part i of n appears on it.
Despite the name, it does NOT link counterbalanced trial pairs and does not hide or select any trials. Its only effect is the on-screen part counter.
Syntax
Section titled “Syntax”Put 1 in the counterPart cell of every instructions screen you want counted. Each of those screens then shows a Part i of n label.
Leave the cell empty on instructions screens that should carry no label. The value you use is never read or displayed, so 1, x and part all behave identically; only “empty” versus “not empty” matters.
Options
Section titled “Options”| Value | Effect |
|---|---|
| empty cell (or column absent) | Row not counted; no Part i of n label on that screen |
| any other value | Row counted as a part IF type is instructions; label Part i of n shown on that screen |
a value on a row whose type is not instructions | Ignored entirely; only instructions rows are counted and labelled |
i is the position of the instructions row among all counted instructions rows in presentation order, starting at 1; n is the total number of counted instructions rows. The label text Part i of n is always in English.
Defaults & missing values
Section titled “Defaults & missing values”If the column is absent, or every cell the participant reaches is empty, no part label is ever shown.
Individual empty rows in an otherwise counted file are simply skipped. They do not create gaps in the numbering: n counts only the labelled screens.
Works with
Section titled “Works with”type: onlyinstructionsrows take part, both in the count and in the label.- Randomization (
random,randomBlock): parts are numbered in the order the participant actually encounters them, not in file order. subjectGroup: instructions screens the participant is not allocated are left out of the count, so each group sees a total that matches what it actually gets.counterTrial: the separate counter for practice, test and learn trials. The two are independent, and each shows on its own kind of screen.randomPick: unsupported in combination withcounterPart, see Tips & gotchas.
Examples
Section titled “Examples”Three-block experiment with a labeled instructions screen before each block:
| type | counterPart | content |
|---|---|---|
| instructions | 1 | Welcome to part one |
| test | ... | |
| instructions | 1 | Now part two |
| test | ... | |
| instructions | 1 | Final part |
| test | ... |
type,counterPart,content instructions,1,Welcome to part one test,,... instructions,1,Now part two test,,... instructions,1,Final part test,,...
Each instructions screen shows Part 1 of 3, Part 2 of 3, Part 3 of 3 respectively.
Mixed counted and uncounted instructions (consent-style page not counted):
| type | counterPart | content |
|---|---|---|
| instructions | General welcome (no part label) | |
| instructions | x | Block A instructions -> "Part 1 of 2" |
| test | ... | |
| instructions | x | Block B instructions -> "Part 2 of 2" |
| test | ... |
type,counterPart,content instructions,,General welcome (no part label) instructions,x,Block A instructions -> "Part 1 of 2" test,,... instructions,x,Block B instructions -> "Part 2 of 2" test,,...
Tips & gotchas
Section titled “Tips & gotchas”- The value is decorative only. It is never matched against
trialNo, never selects a version of anything, and never excludes a trial. - The label appears only on instructions screens. Putting a value on a test or practice row does nothing.
- If the only rows carrying a value are removed for this participant (for example by
subjectGroup), no labels are shown at all, rather than a strayPart 1 of 1.