type

Experiments Surveys & forms

type is the trial’s behavioral mode. It decides whether a response is scored and saved (test), scored but not saved as a results row (practice), auto advanced with no response window (learn), rendered as a survey question batch (form), or treated as an instructions page for a few specific display behaviours (instructions). It does NOT pick the stimulus renderer; that is derived from stimFormat and stimulus file extensions.

Syntax

Put one mode word in the cell, most often test for a trial whose response you want in the results file.

One value per row, written exactly as documented. Matching is case sensitive, and there are no lists and no parameters.

Options

Value	Effect
test	The only value whose responses are fully recorded: response time, response, correctness, the trial’s row number and its timings all go into the results file along with the rest of the row, including tallies and scores. Enables stim clicking when no keyboard/button response defined. Feedback via feedback/feedbackCorrect/feedbackIncorrect is shown against the recorded correctness. Multi row slider responses (responseRows) are only expanded for test.
practice	Response is checked against key and counted towards practice accuracy only; no results row is written. Enables stim clicking like test. Feedback works, driven by that practice accuracy. Slider values and response codes are not recorded. Inter trial timing is not recorded.
learn	Display only. The response window is never opened, so no responses are collected. The trial auto advances when presTime elapses, media ends, or a response window timeout would have fired. It counts as an empty response, response time and correctness in the running totals used by feedback and variables. No results row.
form	Renders the trial as form questions; no stimulus is shown. Consecutive form rows are grouped into one page unless split by pageBreak. Responses go through form validation instead of the standard path, and the form writes its own results rows. Timers display differently on forms. On mobile the form gets an extra layout adjustment.
instructions	Has a few specific effects: counterPart “block i of n” text is only shown when type is instructions, fixation is skipped, the mobile layout tweak that repositions overflowing content applies ONLY to instructions trials, and extension less stimuli are NOT treated as word stimuli. Note the instructions RENDERER is chosen by the absence of a recognizable stimulus format, not by this value.
anything else, or an empty cell	No mode matches. The trial still renders (the renderer comes from stimFormat), but nothing is scored or saved, clicking is not auto enabled, and no feedback is shown.

Defaults & missing values

If the column is missing, or the cell is left blank, the trial has no mode. It still renders, but nothing is scored and no results row is written for it. There is no implicit defaulting to test: saving requires the literal value test in the cell.

Works with

• key: scoring depends on type, kept separately for test trials and for practice trials.
• keyboard/button1: with type set to test or practice and both of those columns left empty, clicking the stimulus becomes the response and word trials become clickable. This also requires responseType to be empty or clicks.
• feedback* columns: only honored for test and practice.
• pageBreak, form: page grouping of consecutive form rows.
• Block counters: a new block starts whenever type differs from the previous row, which is what the CFPT “trial i of n” display counts. A separate test-block counter advances at the end of each run of test rows.
• counterTrial is only displayed when type is practice, test or learn.
• test column: CFPT trials only save when type is test.

Examples

type	stimFormat	stim1	key	keyboard
practice	word	PRACTICE WORD	1	1;2
test	word	REAL WORD	2	1;2

The practice row is scored but not saved; the test row is written to results.

type	stimFormat	stim1	presTime
learn	.jpg	studyFace1	2000

Shows the image for 2000 ms, then auto advances; no response is collected.

type	head	body	button1
instructions	Welcome	Press next to begin	Next

Renders as an instructions page (no stimulus extension found), and the instructions value keeps extension less content from being treated as a word stimulus.

Tips & gotchas

Caution

Values are case sensitive everywhere: Test or TEST silently disables saving, and the trial leaves no results row.

• type never selects the renderer. A row with type=test and no stimuli renders like an instructions screen while still recording responses.
• Rows with unrecognized type values are legal and render, but leave no trace in the results.
• Practice and learn trials do not record inter trial timing.

Common combinations

type appears in these worked recipes:

• Accuracy-gated progression: Let participants advance to the test block only once their practice accuracy clears a threshold.
• End-of-block summary: Show participants their accuracy and average response time on a summary screen after a block of scored trials.
• Practice, then test: Walk participants through instructions and a feedback practice block before the scored test block.
• Pick a subset of blocks: Give each participant a random two of three self-contained tasks, each opening with its own instructions screen.