Timed block with skip

Run a block of trials against one shared countdown that ends the whole block when time runs out.

When to use it

Use this for fluency-style measures where the score is how much a participant completes within a fixed time, rather than how they fare on each item. Per-trial deadlines cannot produce that: capping every trial with responseWindow bounds the single trial but lets total block time drift with the number of answers given. One shared countdown fixes the block’s duration for everyone and cuts the block off cleanly wherever the participant happens to be. If each item needs its own deadline and total time can vary, per-trial windows are the simpler tool.

Trial file

type	content	stimFormat	stim1	timer	responseType	key	button1
instructions	You have 90 seconds to solve as many sums as you can. The clock starts on the first sum.						NEXT
test		word	17 + 26	quiz:90s,skip,red last 10s	box	43
test		word	58 - 19	quiz	box	39
test		word	7 x 8	quiz	box	56
test		word	96 / 4	quiz	box	24
instructions	That is the end of the timed section.						NEXT

How it works

One timer label groups the block. The first sum defines the timer with quiz:90s,skip,red last 10s: a 90 second countdown named quiz, shown top right, turning red for the last 10 seconds. The following sums carry just quiz, a bare label reference, so the same clock keeps running across them instead of restarting per trial. When the countdown hits zero while any quiz trial is on screen, skip saves that trial’s partial response tagged timeout and jumps to the first trial after the block, which is the closing screen here. Participants who finish all four sums early simply arrive there with time to spare, and entering that timer-less row stops and clears the clock.

Two timer rules shape the cell values. Write durations with explicit s/m units: a plain integer is read as milliseconds and anything that is not an exact multiple of 1000 gets mangled. And keep labels letters-only, because a colon-less value keeps only its leading letters when it is read as a label reference.

Each sum is a word trial via stimFormat, answered by typing into the input box that responseType box provides; key holds the correct total, so typed answers are scored.

Variations

• Hidden hard limit: define the timer as quiz:90s,skip,hide in timer so the deadline exists but no clock distracts the participant.
• Count up instead of down: add stopwatch to the timer options; it still needs the duration and stops when the elapsed time exceeds it.
• Shuffle within the block: add 1 in random on the four sums; timer labels bound randomisation runs, so shuffling can never move a trial out of its timed block.
• Reposition or enlarge the clock: timer options such as center and l change where and how big it renders.