A Computer Program for Interactive Evaluation of Electrodermal Recordings (Version 3.7)

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A Computer Program for Interactive Evaluation of Electrodermal Recordings (Version 3.7) Appendix EDR_PARA: A Computer Program for Interactive Evaluation of Electrodermal Recordings (Version 3.7) Florian Schaefer Wuppertal, Germany # 2011 Program Description The program EDR_PARA reads binary or ASCII data files containing digitized skin resistance (SC) or skin conductance (SR) data. Electrodermal responses (EDRs) are detected and then subjected to parameterization. The results are written to an ASCII file. For control purposes, the original EDA curves as well as the parameterization results are graphically displayed. Initial Control Input After starting EDR_PARA, a window as shown below will appear asking for two files. For each file, the name that has been used in the last session is proposed as default. The names of the two default files are read from a file named EDR_PARA. PRE. These default file names can either be overwritten by new file names or accepted by pressing the ENTER key. The window will be closed after the lower most entry or by pressing the ESC key. Setup File The Setup file contains the information about the data format and the evaluation control settings to be used for initiating the program. The evaluation settings may be changed during the interactive data processing. The appropriate changes can be saved at the end of a session (see below). W. Boucsein, Electrodermal Activity, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-1126-0, 525 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 526 Appendix EDR File The EDR file contains the A/D converted raw data of the skin conductance or skin resistance curve. These data must be stored either as unsigned binary 16-bit integers or as ASCII digits. If only one data file is to be analyzed, the name of this file may be directly typed in the EDR file. If several EDR files are to be analyzed, which are equivalent in recording structure and sampling rate, the program can read the names of the raw-data files from an ASCII list file. In this case, the name of the list file will be typed in the field for the EDR file. This list file must have the extension .LST to make the program detecting the list mode. Examples: EDR file: SCR _S01.BIN ! Only the file SCR_S01.BIN will be analyzed. EDR file: STUDY01.LST The content of this file is: ! All EDR files which are listed in the ASCII file STUDY01.LST will be analyzed. Additional Channel Display In addition to the EDA curve, a second channel may be displayed for control purposes. Such a channel may contain information about stimulus onsets (e.g., in habituation studies, Sect. 3.1.1.3, Chap. 3) or other psychophysiological recordings such as respiration (e.g., for artifact control, Sect. 2.2.5.2, Chap. 2). The filename of the control channel is to be given after the EDR filename, separated by a comma: Example: EDR file: SCR_S01.bin, RES_S01.bin In this case, the content of the RES_S01.bin control channel is displayed in a separate window below the EDR curve. The setup file may also contain additional information about the control file data structure (see below). Appendix 527 Interactive Display After the initial window is closed, the EDR curve of the first recording period is displayed on the screen together with the EDR parameters which are automatically detected by the program. The bottom of the screen displays the function keys F1 to F10, each followed by a short label. These functions may be selected by mouse click or by pressing the appropriate function key: F1: Info displays the author’s name, purchasing information, and the name of the person or institution for which the program is licensed. If “(Demo)” appears as the license name, a valid license file EDR_PARA.USR is missing. In this case, the program works with all features but without producing any output files with EDR parameters. F2: Setup displays the control parameters read from the setup file. The settings may be changed (see below). The window is closed after the lower most entry or by pressing ESC (see initial control input). F3: Value/Curve toggles display between the graph of the EDR curve and a table containing the response parameters. F4: Edit starts the edit mode during which the automatically detected parameters may be manually changed (see below under “EDR editor”). F5: Reset restarts the evaluation procedure from the begin- ning of the first recording period of the first EDR file. All of the response parameters already written on the output file .EDP will be overwritten. F6: Filt. displays a window with the actual setting of the low pass filter given in Hertz. The setting may be changed by overwriting. This does not affect the filter presetting in the setup procedure. F7: AmplÀ by using the F7 and F8 keys, the display range of the curve F8: Ampl+ amplification may be adjusted. The display range is defined in bits of resolution. The actual value is displayed in the center legend below the graph, along with its mS(mmho) equiva- lent. This adjustment does not affect the display range presetting in the setup procedure. By pressing an uppercase O (<shift> o) the graph mode may be 528 Appendix toggled between displaying with or without a mSor kO grid. F9: Auto/Halt toggles between interactive mode and the automatic mode. During the latter mode, the EDR curves are automatically displayed and analyzed according to the presetting in the setup without any halt. F10: Quit cancels further evaluation and exits the program. The output files are closed, keeping the parameters written into the files until this point of time. If the setup was changed during the session, a window is displayed asking whether the setup should be saved and which file name is to be used for it. <ENTER> if the parameterization of the recording period which is actual displayed shall be accepted, the ENTER key is to be pressed. Thereafter, the parameters are written to the output file .EDP and the next recording period is displayed. <PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN> shifts the graphical display vertically across the curve. <SHIFT O> toggles the display of mS- and s-units by means of a dashed line grid. The mean EDA level (offset) is displayed as a grey dashed line. Setup Information After the program is started, the control presetting values will be read from the setup file (default: EDR_PARA.DEF) and used for evaluation. These can be changed during the session by editing the setup (F2) or temporarily overwritten by pressing F6, F7, F8, or F9 (see above). By pressing F2, the following presetting values are displayed: Appendix 529 Recording Period(s) The temporal structure of the recordings in s needs to be specified here. There is a direct and an indirect input mode. When using the direct mode, the total length of the period has to be given and will be analyzed as one continuous recording. Example: Recording period(s): 120 !One period of 120 s will be analyzed. As there is always one complete recording period displayed on the screen, the visual control of the evaluation may become difficult when this period exceeds approximately 120 s. In this case, it is recommended to split up the recording into segments of equal length. The number of segments and their duration in s are divided by an asterisk. Example: Recording period(s): 120, 10*20 ! The data file will be divided and analyzed as one period of 120 s and 10 subsequent periods of 20 s each. Such a treatment of data is suitable when records are taken over subsequent experimental trials (e.g., data recorded during habituation studies). For the indirect mode, an ASCII file containing information about the recording has to be specified. This file must have the extension .P?? or .R?? (? signifies any character). In this file, recording periods may be specified using subsequent lines, according to the direct input syntax. Evaluation of recording periods may also be skipped by specifying a negative duration for a period. Example: Recording period(s): TRIAL.REC The content of TRIAL.PAR is: !First, a period of 120 s will be analyzed; thereafter a 60 s period will be skipped followed by the evaluation of three trials of 20 s each. In some studies, each participant will have an individual structure of recording periods, i.e., when recordings are triggered by task performance. In order to provide automatic evaluation in this case, the wildcard * may be used in front of the .P?? or 530 Appendix .R?? extension. By this, the missing file name information in front of the extension is imported from the .LST file. Example: Recording period(s): .REC When the STUDY01.LST file from the example for the EDR file given above is used, the program will expect three REC files corresponding to the raw data file names: When the wildcard option is used, an individual file with recording period information must exist for each raw data file. In some cases it may be more convenient to use the absolute time of day (real time) for specifying the recording periods. This may be specified in the following notation: hh:mm:ss>hh:mm:ss, either in the direct or in the indirect mode. Example: Recording period(s): 10:15:00>10:15:45, 10:20:15>10:22:05 !First a period of 45 s is analyzed, starting at 10:15:00 real time. The following four minutes and 30 s between the specified periods are skipped. The next period of one minute and 50 s is analyzed again. It is also possible to mix the time of day information with fixed period definitions.
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