Using Keyboard’s String Input and Single Keys In The Same Experiment

When having participants respond using the keyboard, SuperLab offers two choices:

Single key responses, e.g. to indicate a choice or rate a picture
String input, where an edit field appears allowing the participant to type words or sentences.

Caution must be used when wanting to use both options in the same experiment:

This is because SuperLab then has two input plug-ins trying to access the same physical device, the keyboard, which leads to access conflict. This access conflict can be managed using the following steps.

In the Participant Input Dialog

Click on “Keyboard-Single Keys” to select it, then click on the Options tab.
Enable the checkbox Only if an event designates a single key response as correct.

We need to perform a similar step for “Keyboard-String Input”:

Click on it to select then click on its Options tab
Enable the checkbox Only if an event designates a string input response as correct.

Next, you need to create at least one response for each of the two input plug-ins. This is done in the Responses tab.

In the Event Editor Dialog

With the options set as described above, SuperLab will now no longer be looking for a response from participants unless the event defines a correct response. This is important: if an event is expected to look for a response but does not have a correct response defined, SuperLab will go into an endless loop.

Consequently, for every event, make sure that one of the two following things are set:

In the Event Editor’s Input tab, the event-ending option is set to Immediately after the event is presented, or,
In the Event Editor’s Correct Response tab, make sure that the event’s correct response is set to One or more of the following: and with a response checked. In the example below, the response “Any String Input” is checked.