Knowledge Base

Carry Out A Test With The Stimulus Presentation Tool

Aim

To carry out a test with the Stimulus Presentation Tool so that the Stimuli are shown to the test participants and the test participant's face is analyzed.

Prerequisites

• Your FaceReader license includes the Project Analysis Module.
• You installed the Stimulus Presentation Tool.
  See To install the Stimulus Presentation Tool
• You have defined one or more Stimuli.
  See Define Stimuli
• You have opened the FaceReader project that contains those Stimuli.
• Optionally, the Advanced Research Module if you want to track the test participant's gaze.

Procedure

Carry out the following steps:

1. Define a test
2. Specify connection settings for the Stimulus Presentation tool
3. Run a test

Define A Test

Aim

To define the Stimuli to show to the test participants and the order they should be presented.

Prerequisites

• Your FaceReader license includes the Project Analysis Module.
• You have defined one or more Stimuli.
  See Define Stimuli
• You have opened the FaceReader project that contains those Stimuli.

Procedure

1. In FaceReader, choose Project > Tests > Add Test, or on the bottom-left pane, click the Test tab and click the Add Test button.
2. Give a Name to the test (default: Test 1, Test 2,…).
3. Select the Default camera you want to use. In the Select Camera window, choose the options that apply and click OK.
4. Add Stimuli. From the Select Stimuli list, select the first Stimulus video you want to add, and click the Add button. Repeat this step for the next Stimulus.
5. The Stimuli appear under Stimuli Order.
6. Specify the independent variables for the test. Under Independent Variable Usage, click an independent variable and choose how you want to determine the value for a participant.
   • Automatic (only for Gender and Age) — FaceReader enters the values automatically for each participant, based on the analysis.
   • Entered by Participant — The participant is asked to enter the value of this variable at the start of the test.
     Instead of asking a participant to fill in a value for an independent variable, you can ask him/her any type of question. When defining the independent variable/question you must define either a Numerical or Nominal value/answers. In a consumer test you can ask, for instance, what the participant had for breakfast and define the following Nominal answers: cereal, bread, pancakes, hot meal and coffee only.
     A variable/question can have a maximum number of 50 characters.
   • Leave blank — To leave the value blank and edit it later.
   • [value or category] — Specify one of the values available; note that the value you specify here will be assigned to all analyses and participants who take part in that test. Use this option for example to compare data between tests which differ by that variable.
7. Under Options, choose the additional options that apply:
   • Stimulus display size - Default value is 60%. Change the value to 100% to display the stimulus full-screen.
   • Minimum pause between stimuli - Define the length of the pause between stimuli (in hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds). The default value is 3 seconds. Please note that the pause can be longer than the value you set if FaceReader needs more time to load the stimulus.
   • Randomize stimulus order to present the Stimuli in a random order.
   • Perform gaze calibration — This enables FaceReader to track the gaze of the test participant.
   • Let Participants enter their name at the start of the test.
8. Click OK.

Notes

• Video formats accepted by FaceReader: QuickTime (mov), MP4, VOB (from camcorders), H.264 DivX, MPEG-4 DivX, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, DV-AVI.
• Once the Stimuli are listed under Stimuli Order, you cannot change their order. To put them in a specific order, delete the Stimuli and re-add them in that order.
• To add Stimuli that are not in the list, close the Add New Test window, then add the Stimuli you need (see Define Stimuli), then on the bottom-left pane click the Test tab and double-click the test to the re-open the test window, and complete step 4.
• To add independent variables, close the Add New Test window, then add the independent variables (see Define Independent Variables). Next, on the bottom-left pane click the Test tab and double-click the test to the re-open the test window, and complete step 6.
• To delete a Stimulus from the test, under Stimuli Order click the Delete button for that Stimulus.
• To edit an existing test, double-click the test name on the bottom-left pane (Test tab).
• To delete a test, on the bottom-left pane (Test tab) right-click the test name and select Delete Test.

Source: FaceReader 10 Reference Manual (Help), Noldus Information Technology