Test Battery Design

WiltonLogic has the goal to make the use of our products as simple as possible. We would like to make it possible for customers may not be experienced in using computerized psychological to use our products with confidence. For this reason we provide standardized test procedures which can be linked together in test batteries. By using standardized procedures we can be confident about the subject burden, including the level of difficulty and the time taken to complete the test, and the statistical reliability of the tests. Our aim is construct the shortest possible test design which provides reliable data. In this way, we make it easier to combine tests to assess a broader range of characteristics and investigate their inter-relationships. Using a short test does not preclude testing over a prolonged period of time, since the same procedure can be repeated multiple times, providing proper consideration is taken to learning, adaptation or boredom.

Starting the WiltonLogic Test Battery

To start the WiltonLogic Test battery, you should go to the WiltonLogic Research web site:

www.wiltonlogicresearch.com

Here you have two options depending upon your study design. If your study is being carried out in a laboratory, then you need to log on using the Administrator ID and password supplied by WiltonLogic. When you log in you are transferred to another web page which lists your projects. If you are running a web study, participants should click on the button labeled "Link to Studies".

Here is a screen shot of the web studies page in Fall 2013. The list of studies on this page will vary depending upon which web studies are running at that time. Your own personal study web page will look similar, but will only contain the studies you have access to, and will not show the studies being run by other clients.

Logging on to the WiltonLogic Test Battery

The first screen a participant will see is a login screen for the test programs. This enables you, the client, to control access to the test programs and prevents unauthorized use. You can add users via your personal web page, or you can request that Wiltonogic creates a database of user logins for you. For web-studies, if you supply a list of e-mail addresses for your test participants, WiltonLogic can set up a data table containing login information, and send out e-mails to your participants giving each of them a unique user ID. The test participant should press or click on "Login" to enter his or her User ID.

At this screen the test participant should enter the study ID for your study and their personal user ID. The program checks that the information has a valid format, and also that this test participant has the right to access this set of programs. Once logged in, a Start button appears, and the user should click on this to start the test procedures. This step allows you to enter user IDs for laboratory-based test participants before they arrive or to enter patient ID for a clinical study before giving the patient access to the test procedures.

If this is the first time that the test participant has logged on, the test battery begins by presenting a brief overview of the study, which is tailored for your study. It also presents details of any rewards or payments as agreed with your institutional review board. The information is presented on the screen as text, but there is also a voice over spoken by the computer tutor.

At the end of the introduction, the new test participant proceeds to an optional informed consent screen. Even if test participants sign a paper informed consent, WiltonLogic prefers to have an electronic record. For web studies this is essential. In the example presented here, the test participants must scroll down the informed consent document before the "Click to Reach Sign In" button appears. Once they click on this button they are taken to a second screen where they are requested to type in their name and click on a button labeled "I Agree" in acknowledgement of having consented.

Once this has been done, the test participant is given additional information about what to expect from the test battery, and some instructions what to do if something goes wrong, as occasionally does with the internet.

When these instructions are complete, the test home screen is shown.

Once the test participant click on Continue, the code for the first test is shown in the "Next Up" display, and the "Start next test" button lights up. There can be a brief delay before a test starts, as each test is downloaded from the internet, and then the User ID and total points are transferred. Each test begins with a guided tutorial made up of spoken instruction, an animated display, and usually a couple of practice trials. The test can then begin.

When the test is over, the program returns to the home screen. The green progress marker moves round one step, the code for the next test procedure is shown in the "Next Up" display, and the total points are updated. The test participant can then click on the "Start next test" button to move on to the next test procedure.