How to Read the Results Files

Experiments Surveys & forms

Every completed session produces a CSV result file. This guide explains how those files are named, what each column contains, and how to download your data. For a column-by-column reference of everything Testable generates in these files, see the [Results Reference](/docs/results-reference/).

File naming

Each file follows the format:

experimentCode_YYMMDD_HHMMSS_participantID.csv

For example: myexp_240315_143022_P001.csv

Downloading results

In the Results tab you can download files in several ways:

Option	Description
Individual files	Download a single session’s CSV
ZIP archive	Download all files as a compressed archive
Wide format	One row per participant, columns per trial
Long format	All participants concatenated, one row per trial
Anonymised	Strip identifying participant details

File structure

Header

The first rows of each file contain header information (not trial data):

• Computer information (OS, browser, screen resolution)
• GMT start time and date
• Participant ID and any collected participant details
• Experiment code

Trial data

After the header, each row corresponds to one trial. Key columns:

Column	Contains
trialNo	Sequential trial number in the session
test / subTest / condition1–3	Organisation columns from your trial file
response	The participant’s response (text, or position index for buttons)
responseCode	Position index of the selected response option
correct	1 if correct, 0 if incorrect or not applicable
RT	Reaction time in ms, measured from the start of the response window
timestamp	Absolute timestamp (ms since epoch) when the response was recorded

Randomisation columns

Column	Contains
stimOrder_actual	The order stimuli were actually shown (after randomisation)
stimPos_actual	The actual on-screen positions of randomised stimuli

Achieved timing columns

Testable records the actual timings observed in the participant’s browser alongside your configured values:

Column	Meaning
ITI_actual	Actual inter-trial interval duration
ISI_actual	Actual inter-stimulus interval duration
presTime_actual	Actual stimulus presentation time

Caution

Achieved timing columns and custom columns from your trial file are not exported in long format downloads. Use the individual CSV files or the wide format if you need these values.

Long format vs wide format

Format	Structure	Best for
Long format	One row per trial, all participants concatenated	R, SPSS, Python (tidy data)
Wide format	One row per participant, each trial as a column	Excel, SPSS WIDE

In wide format you can toggle Labels as columns to use your label column values as column headers instead of row numbers.

Finding your data

• Button responses: response stores the position index (1-based); responseCode also stores this. The label is not stored in the column; cross-reference with your trial file.
• Text input: response stores the literal text typed.
• Accuracy: correct = 1 means the response matched the key column value.

Next steps

• Fieldwork Insights: live statistics without downloading files
• Trial File Fundamentals: understand how results map back to trial file columns
• Define Responses: understand key column for correct/incorrect scoring