Stimulus Presentation in Labvanced

In experiments, a stimulus is anything you show or play to a participant—such as text, images, videos, sounds, or even interactive tasks. Stimulus presentation simply means how and when these elements are displayed during your study.

In Labvanced, stimulus presentation is controlled visually, so you don’t need advanced programming skills to get started.

The Big Picture

Think of your experiment as a sequence of “screens” (called frames in Labvanced). Each frame contains the stimuli you want participants to see.

For example:

Welcome screen (text)
Instruction screen (text + image)
Trial screen (image stimulus + response buttons)
Feedback screen

Labvanced lets you design and control this flow step by step.

Step 1: Adding a Frame

A frame is like a slide in a presentation.

Go to the Task Editor
Click Add Frame
Give it a meaningful name (e.g., “Trial 1” or “Instructions”)

Each frame will contain your stimuli.

Step 2: Adding Stimuli to a Frame

Inside a frame, you can add different types of elements / Objects, such as:

Text → instructions or questions
Image → pictures or visual stimuli
Video → clips or animations
Audio → sounds or spoken words
Buttons / Input fields → participant responses

To add one:

Click on the particular Object from the vertical menu
Choose the type (e.g., Text or Image)
It will be added to the editor automatically, then you can drag & drop it to the position you need and further user the Object Properties panel to further control its presentation (eg. X- and Y- coordinate position)

Step 3: Controlling When Stimuli Appear

Stimulus timing is a key part of experiments.

In Labvanced, you control this using events and timing options:

Option A: Simple Timing

Select a frame
Set a duration (e.g., 2000 ms = 2 seconds)
The stimulus will appear for that amount of time

Option B: Event-Based Timing

You can make things happen based on events:

Show stimulus after a delay
Hide stimulus after a response
Move to next frame when a button is clicked

Example:

Show image → wait for response → go to next frame

Step 4: Trial Structure (Repeating Stimuli)

Most experiments repeat stimuli multiple times.

Labvanced uses trials:

Utilize the Trial System
Each loop iteration presents a new stimulus

You can:

Randomize order
Load stimuli from a table / data frame (e.g., different images per trial)

Step 5: Using Variables to Control Stimuli

Variables allow you to change what is shown dynamically.

Example:

Variable “image_file” contains file names
Each trial loads a different image

This is useful for:

Randomization
Condition-based presentation
Personalized stimuli

Step 6: Collecting Responses

Stimulus presentation is usually paired with responses.

You can:

Record button clicks
Capture keyboard input
Measure reaction time

Labvanced automatically logs:

What was shown
When it was shown
How the participant responded

Example: A Simple Reaction Task

Here’s a basic experiment flow:

Fixation cross (“+”) appears for 500 ms
Image appears
Participant presses a key
Next trial starts

In Labvanced:

Frame 1: Fixation (timed)
Frame 2: Image (wait for response)
Loop: Repeat for multiple trials

Tips for Beginners

Start simple: build one trial before scaling up
Name frames and variables clearly
Use preview mode frequently
Test timing carefully (especially for reaction-time studies)

Summary

Stimulus presentation in Labvanced is built around:

Frames → where stimuli are shown
Elements → what is shown (text, images, etc.)
Timing & events → when things happen
Trials & loops → repetition and structure

Once you understand these principles building blocks, you can create a wide variety of experiments—from simple surveys to complex cognitive tasks.