trialTextOptions

Experiments

trialTextOptions selects the trial phases during which the trialText content is displayed, and (for multi-segment {a}{b} trialText values) drives which segment goes to which phase. It is NOT a styling column. Use it whenever the default (text on the last stimulus screen, kept after the stimuli disappear) is not what you want, e.g. text during the ITI, text on every screen, or a dedicated prompt while the response window is open.

Syntax

Write the phase you want the text shown in, for example withStim to show it on every stimulus screen. Combine phases with semicolons: ITI;withStim;withResponse.

The keywords are the ones listed under Options: ITI, ISI, allStim, withStim, allTrial, firstStim, lastStim, afterStim, withResponse. They must be spelled exactly like that, same capitalization, no spaces; anything else is dropped without a warning.

When trialText holds several {a}{b} segments, each enabled phase takes the next segment in this fixed order: ITI, allTrial, allStim, firstStim (plus its ISI slot when ISI texts are enabled), then one withStim and one ISI slot per remaining screen, then lastStim (which takes over the last screen’s withStim), afterStim, and withResponse.

Options

Keyword	Behavior
ITI	Text during the inter-trial interval before the trial content (shown)
allTrial	Text visible for the whole trial; highest priority; suppresses firstStim/withStim/ISI/lastStim AND afterStim slot assignment; re-shown each screen and never hidden mid-trial
allStim	Text visible while any stimulus screen is up; suppresses firstStim/withStim/ISI/lastStim slots; hidden after the last stimulus; allTrial wins over it
firstStim	Text only on the first stimulus screen
withStim	A text on every stimulus screen (one segment consumed per screen); shown after stimuli are positioned
ISI	A text during each inter-stimulus interval except after the last screen; shown after the mask
lastStim	Text on the last stimulus screen (it takes over that screen’s withStim slot)
afterStim	Text shown after the last screen’s presentation time ends (single-screen image trials), unless allTrial is set. NOT shown on single-screen word trials, nor on audio/video trials, where the text is hidden when the media ends
withResponse	Text shown when the response window opens; while the response window is active it suppresses allStim/allTrial display and blocks hiding

Defaults & missing values

Leave the cell blank, or leave the column out, and the text behaves as lastStim;afterStim: it appears on the last stimulus screen and stays visible after the stimuli disappear.

Caution

A value made only of unrecognized keywords is not the same as a blank cell. Every keyword is dropped, no phase is left enabled, and the trial text never appears at all. allstim in lower case is enough to lose the text for that trial.

Works with

• trialText: the phases take the {a}{b} segments in the order given under Syntax. With a single text (no segments) the same text is used in every enabled phase.
• trialTextPos positions the text in every phase.
• responseWindow: the withResponse text appears exactly when the window opens and stays while it is open.
• Audio and video trials: when the media starts, the text is shown only if waitStimEnd is empty or the options include allStim, allTrial or withStim. With waitStimEnd set, the last screen’s withStim text is shown when the media ends instead. afterStim never shows anything on audio or video trials.
• Word trials with a single screen: text alongside the stimulus only works when this column is left blank or is exactly allTrial, and the trialText cell is then shown as written. Spelling out withStim, lastStim, firstStim, allStim, or even the default lastStim;afterStim, shows nothing with the stimulus. ITI and withResponse still work. Word trials spread over several screens behave normally.
• The number of withStim and ISI slots equals the number of screens in the trial. Screens come from the ISI gaps between stimuli, or, on non-target trials, from the per-screen grouping in stimScreens (an invalid grouping falls back to the ISI-driven split). Without an ISI and without stimScreens, all stimuli share ONE screen and there is exactly one withStim slot. A multi-screen stimScreens trial with no ISI column gets 500 ms gaps by default, so its ISI texts do have slots and do display. A target shown alone adds a screen that takes a segment but never displays it, and stimScreens is ignored on target trials.

Examples

1. Prompt during ITI then a different prompt while responding:

stim1	stim2	presTime	trialText	trialTextOptions
img1.jpg	img2.jpg	500	{Next trial starting...}{Choose left or right}	ITI;withResponse

2. A distinct label on each of three screens (three segments, one per screen). The ISI values are what split the three stimuli onto three screens; without an ISI (or an explicit stimScreens grouping) all stimuli share one screen and only the first segment would be used:

stim1	stim2	stim3	presTime	ISI	trialText	trialTextOptions
a.jpg	b.jpg	c.jpg	700	300;300	{First}{Second}{Third}	withStim

3. Persistent instruction over the whole trial (single text, no segments needed):

stim1	trialText	trialTextOptions
word1	Press SPACE when you see a red word	allTrial

Tips & gotchas

Caution

Keywords are case-sensitive and are not corrected: iti, AllStim and last stim are dropped silently, and a value where every keyword is invalid hides the trial text completely instead of falling back to the default.

• allStim and allTrial skip firstStim, withStim, ISI and lastStim so the texts cannot overlap, so combining them with per-screen keywords wastes those keywords. allTrial also absorbs afterStim.
• lastStim works on its own, without withStim.
• There is never an ISI text after the final screen, and no segment is used up for it. The one exception: with firstStim and ISI texts enabled, an ISI segment is always consumed, even on a single-screen trial where it can never be shown.
• On image trials where the target appears alone on its own screen, that screen takes a segment but never displays it, so the first segment of your text can silently disappear.
• withResponse competes with allStim and allTrial: while the response window is open, the all-screen texts are not redrawn; they can come back on the next screen once it closes.

Common combinations

trialTextOptions appears in these worked recipes:

• Task switching: Alternate between two judgement tasks on the same stimuli in a controlled AABB pattern, so switch and repeat trials can be compared.