Knowledge Base

Useful Things to Know

Components Pane

Use the Components pane to choose conditions, actions and other elements for your Start-Stop trial rule. If you do not see the Components pane, click the Show/Hide button on the toolbar and select Components. To display the complete list of options, click the buttons next to More. What you see in the Components pane depends on what EthoVision XT license you have on your computer.

Trial Control Boxes

A Trial Control box has the following information:

• A. Type of control (Rule Begin/End, Action, Condition, Operator, Reference). You cannot change this text.
• B. Text describing the control. To change this text, click the Settings button and enter the text under Name, for example Drop one food item. You can also add a longer description under Comment (this is not shown). Names of Trial Control boxes must be unique, unless you make a copy of an existing box. See Re-use Trial Control Elements.
• C. Depending on the type of control, this text shows the option chosen, for example the command to be given, or the sub-rule that the box refers to.

Trial control boxes have different colors:

• Light blue for the Start-Stop Trial rule, sub-rules and sub-rule References.
• Olive green for conditions.
• Light green for actions.
• Grey for operators.

To Zoom the Trial Control Rule In and Out

• To enlarge the size of all trial control boxes up to their original size, click the Zoom in button (Ctrl+.).
• To reduce the size of all trial control boxes, click the Zoom out button (Ctrl+,).
• To make all trial control boxes visible on your screen, click the Fit all button (Ctrl+/).

Tip: Navigate from left to right in the Trial Control window by using the scrollbar at the bottom. Use the Fit all button to make all trial control boxes visible.

To Keep Trial Control Boxes Aligned

The Trial Control boxes automatically snap to a grid. This helps you keep the boxes aligned. To show the grid, click the Show/Hide button on the toolbar and select Show Grid. To disable the grid alignment, click the Show/Hide button on the toolbar and deselect Snap to Grid.

Trial Control Settings Become Locked After Acquisition

After you have acquired at least one trial, the Trial Control Settings used for that become locked. In the Experiment Explorer, locked settings are indicated by a lock symbol, and cannot be edited. To edit a locked Trial Control Settings profile, duplicate it and edit this copy. See Re-use Trial Control Elements.

To Export a Picture of the Trial Control Settings

1. Click the Export image button on the toolbar.
2. Select a location to save the image to, type in the File name or accept the default one and select an image type from the Save as type list, then click Save.

The complete Trial Control window is exported, irrespective of the zoom factor.

Conditions

Aim

A Condition is a statement that EthoVision checks during the trial. When the Condition is met (True), the program evaluates the next element in the Trial Control sequence.

Examples (conditions highlighted):

• When the rat reaches the platform, stop tracking.
• When the mouse is detected in the open field, start tracking.
• When the animal has visited zone A ten times, stop tracking.

To Define a Condition

1. Open or create new Trial Control Settings.
2. In the Components pane under Conditions, locate the type of condition you want to define and click the button next to it. Tip: Combine two or more conditions using the Multi condition. For details, see the EthoVision XT 19 - Trial and Hardware Control - Reference Manual.
3. Next to Condition name, type in the name you want to give to the condition, or accept the default name.
4. Specify the condition properties. See Types of Condition.
5. Enter a Comment (optional), then click OK.
6. Insert the condition box in the Trial Control rule.

Types of Condition

Time

Defines a time interval that must elapse before an action is taken.

Example: Start tracking two seconds after clicking the Start Trial button, or start tracking at 12 PM.

Time Interval

This condition makes sense when it is combined with another condition.

Example: Stop tracking when the animal is found in Zone A (In zone condition) between 5 and 10 minutes (Time interval condition).

Trial Control Variable

To create a condition that is met when a Trial Control variable has a certain value, or a value within a range, or equal to another variable at the time the condition becomes active. See also To Define a Trial Control Variable.

Example: Stop tracking when the variable Counter is greater than or equal to 10.

Dependent Variables

To define a condition based on the behavior of the subject, including behaviors scored manually. Choose one of the dependent variables to create the condition.

• Example 1 - In Zone Condition: Stop tracking when the subject visits the target zone 10 times.
• Example 2 - Movement Condition: Stop tracking when the subject has been in the Not moving state for more than five minutes.
• Example 3 - Multi Condition: Stop tracking when the subject has explored an object for more than 5 minutes. Here, "explored" is defined with a Multi condition: (a) the subject's nose point is in the object zone AND (b) its head is directed to the object. When the two conditions are met simultaneously for a total of 5 minutes, the trial stops.