Tutorial: check data collection

Use this workflow during piloting, experimenter training, or session review. The result is a short record of which trials need attention and why.

1. Load a pilot session

On the Data Management page select Add dataset → Import files, upload the Words (interest areas) and Fixations tables, then check the proposed columns and the Recording setup (the actual monitor resolution) before selecting Add dataset. If the dataset is already loaded, click its row in the list of datasets.

2. Check the setup on one trial

Keep the default visualization first. Confirm that:

• word boxes match the displayed text;
• fixations fall on or near words rather than off-canvas;
• the first and last fixations look plausible.

If every trial is shifted in the same way, check the monitor size and coordinate system before judging participants.

3. Replay the recording

Turn on Animate. Look for long missing periods, repeated points out of bounds, frequent interruptions, or a vertical shift that grows during the trial.

Use Filters & highlights → Fixations in the plot rail to Highlight short, long, or out-of-bounds fixations. Highlighting keeps the full trial visible; Discard is better reserved for a later, documented filtering decision.

4. Record the decision

Open Annotations for the selected trial:

• star a good example;
• add a tag such as calibration, blink, setup, or review;
• write one sentence describing the evidence and action.

Move through the participant's trials with the trial picker.

5. Save the review

Open Data Management → Annotations and select Export. The file keeps your favorites, tags and notes for later review; Share → File keeps the view settings beside it. To return to a trial from its note, select Open on its row there; a screen annotation opens that screen.

Done: you have checked geometry and timing, marked suspicious trials, and saved the review. For a formal retained/excluded pool, continue with Data filtering.