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Software / DirectRT v2020

DirectRT

Built for cognitive and perception tasks where stimulus onsets and response times are seriously expressed in milliseconds, not seconds. If you think in blocks of trials, you've come to the right place.

Overview

Powerful and easy to use

With DirectRT you can quickly create reaction-time tasks that require precision timing. Obtain accurate high-speed response input from keyboards, mice, joysticks, microphones, and external hardware. Present sound, video, images, and text with exacting precision.

Using Microsoft Excel as its editor, you can create, copy, paste, and modify trials in no time. DirectRT comes with extensive help files, an easy-to-follow 100-page manual, and an online tutorial with over 40 samples illustrating simple and advanced techniques.

Download v2020   Online User Guide
DirectRT reaction time software screenshot
Why it's accurate

Windows can accommodate precision

Windows has traditionally been a chaotic environment for precisely timing events. Microsoft's DirectX changed all that: DirectX-based programs can manipulate images and sound and monitor input at the millisecond level with incredible reliability. DirectRT is 100% DirectX — dust off your old oscilloscope and see for yourself.

1 ms resolution

Response timing is synchronized with the screen display, so timing always begins when the screen first begins to draw — eliminating 10–17 ms of random error.

Highest priority

DirectRT works with Windows to pause other system events while timing takes place, giving DirectRT the highest processing priority during critical intervals on each trial.

Fast input access

Uses DirectX for the fastest possible access to input events from the keyboard, mouse, joystick, and soundcard — and works great with most third-party external hardware.

Feature Details

Everything under the hood

Expand any section for the full feature list.

General features and response times
  • Timing resolution of 1 millisecond, synchronized with the screen refresh.
  • Optionally define minimum and maximum response times with custom message screens when violated.
  • Collect multiple response times on a single trial, plus key-release times in addition to key-press times.
  • Define valid keys and "correct" keys for any response; optionally require a correct response (see the IAT sample).
Input options
  • Keyboard, mouse, and joystick input for single keypress or button responses.
  • Short open-ended (fill-in-the-blank) responses.
  • Voice responses via microphone, with the option of saving them as .wav files.
  • Continuous joystick motion.
  • Read TTL signals from a defined port to gather data from external equipment.
Stimulus presentation
  • Create as many different displays as you need for any given trial.
  • Multiple simultaneous and/or sequential sound files with control over left/right panning and frequency, easily synchronized with visual stimuli.
  • Send precisely synchronized TTL signals to external equipment (e.g., physiological recording).
  • Present subjects' own open-ended responses as stimuli in the same session.
  • Full-color graphics up to full screen in any resolution your hardware supports; multiple images and/or text in succession or simultaneously.
  • Superimpose custom graphics (e.g., special rating scales) over any other image or text.
  • Capture screens from PowerPoint or other software and present them as stimulus or instruction screens.
  • Display is synchronized with the monitor's refresh rate; specify presentation times in milliseconds and DirectRT picks the closest number of refreshes. All actual display times are written to a log file.
Randomization and trial structure
  • Randomize trials within a block, the order of blocks, and which items from a set are presented.
  • Extremely flexible trial design that can change from one trial to the next.
  • Define stimuli directly in the input file or refer to stimulus lists — accessed sequentially, randomly, or randomly without replacement.
  • Scale responses and multiple-choice questions in any format.
  • Skip and jump capability: depending on which key is pressed, jump to different events (e.g., a feedback sequence) and resume where you left off.
  • Self-paced or time-limited responses; repeat trials whose stimuli were randomly selected at run-time.
Data output
  • Writes data to an easy-to-analyze ASCII file that imports straight into Excel or SPSS.
  • Add optional variables identifying within-subject trial conditions for much easier analysis.
  • Utility included for merging data files collected on different computers.
  • Two data files per run: a simplified version for everyday use, and a detailed log recording everything — including actual stimulus presentation times, so you can verify your system achieves the timing you need.
Other features
  • No new editor to learn — do everything from your favorite spreadsheet application. Input and output are standard .CSV files.
  • Works great with MediaLab: drop a DirectRT session into any MediaLab questionnaire and MediaLab passes along subject and condition IDs, then resumes when DirectRT finishes.
  • Runs from a command line, so you can execute sessions seamlessly from within your own programs.
  • Context-sensitive help (F1), intuitive interface, resolution independent.
Requirements

System requirements

We recommend at least 256 MB of memory, a graphics card with at least 16 MB of video memory, and a processor of at least 500 MHz. DirectRT's log files will show you whether any computer in question can handle your experimental design.

A spreadsheet application (e.g., Excel) is needed to edit or view input and output files, which are saved in standard .CSV format.

Full setup details in the user's guide

Pairing

DirectRT and/or MediaLab?

New customers often wonder whether they need both. DirectRT specializes in millisecond-precision trials; MediaLab specializes in questionnaires and multimedia experiments. Together they cover nearly any lab paradigm.

Knowledgebase: Do I need both DirectRT and MediaLab?

DirectRT FAQ and support forum

Try DirectRT free for 21 days

Download now and we'll send you a trial code — or check out licensing and upgrade pricing.

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