For beginners and your first programs there is no need to modify the myParadigmSetup script, since it deals with hardware setups that you probably don’t have for your first steps.
If you are more familiar with the toolbox and had your first success stories continue with setting up the myParadigmSetup script in defining the position of response keys. This feature is mostly used for setups with physical switches that are used in front of a monitor or for setups with a touch screen that expects a response on a defined position.
Edit sections 1-6 to choose certain setups for your software. These include switch/ image position with respect to the screen size (1), width and height of these switches/ images (2), background color for your presentation window (3), enabled/ disabled transparency of your stimuli (4), enable/ disable sound support (5) and choosing an image for negative feedback if needed (6).
This is an example of how to define the position of a response key on the monitor.
he advantage of having these two setup functions of the toolbox becomes apparent when you want to move your whole experiment to a new hardware device. In this case you only need to copy the whole experimental folder and edit myHardwareSetup without losing your other settings. The experiment will run just as fine as on the old hardware device. On the other hand, if you only want to change specific parts of your paradigm (e.g. timing, other stimuli, other response choices) you only need to edit your experiment function or, in case you want to change some of the above mentioned setups, myParadigmSetup. The myHardwareSetup function can stay untouched in these cases. The following figure displays what you need to edit when you change your hardware, paradigm or both.
As you can see the OTBR Toolbox is installed properly and informs the user about the location of the toolbox folders. The information displayed may vary depending on the hardware and the settings done in myHardwareSetup.m and mySoftwareSetup.m. This is important if you want to use different versions of the psychophysics toolbox. In addition, the psychophysics toolbox informs the user about the hardware installed in the computer and about possible adjustments that may be necessary. All psychophysics toolbox information start with “PTB-“.
Next, create a new folder in your experimental pathway that contains all stimuli you want to use. Also create a folder that shall contain all results from your experiment.
Now you are prepared to start coding your own experiment! Start by creating a simple MATLAB function with your experiment’s name and save it to your experimental folder. If you haven’t done so before change MATLAB’s current working directory to your experiment’s pathway as explained above.
