ANY-maze Help > The ANY-maze reference > The Tests page > Running tests > After testing > Adding additional scoring to a performed test

Adding additional scoring to a performed test

Introduction

Although ANY-maze allows you to set up as many as 46 keys to score additional behaviours that the system can't assess automatically, this is of little use if you are going to try to measure the behaviours during the test as you're unlikely to be able to detect and score more than 3 or 4 behaviours simultaneously.

To address this (and let you score as many behaviours as you want), ANY-maze lets you review a video of a test and add additional scoring to it (using keys) as if that scoring had been performed while the test was being run. What's more, you can do this any number of times, so if you wanted to, you could review a test 10 times and score two behaviours on each pass.

This ability to add additional scoring to a test has no side-effects on the test results, where it will appear that all the scoring was performed at the same time.

Prerequisites for adding additional scoring to a test

In order to add additional scoring to a test, the test must have either been tracked from a video or a video must have been recorded of the test. Clearly without a video, the system can't replay the test for you to review it.

The easiest way to ensure that you have a video of test, is to simply specify that ANY-maze should automatically record a video of all the tests in your protocol.

How to add additional scoring to a test

To add additional scoring to a test you should follow these steps. First either:

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Open the Testing status menu on the Test schedule report (by clicking the little down arrow next to the testing status) and then select Mark this test for additional scoring from the options which appear.

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Alternatively:

In the Test schedule report click the test number of the test you want to add additional scoring to. This will cause the Test details report to open.

Click the

Mark test for additional scoring button in the ribbon bar.

ANY-maze will check that it has a video of the test and, assuming it has, it will mark the test as Waiting to have additional scoring added to it - you'll see this at the top of the report.

In either case, the test will immediately be scheduled as the next test to run in the apparatus the original test was performed in. Of course, you won't actually be rerunning the test in your physical apparatus, but ANY-maze will need to use the apparatus's video window (on the Tests page) to play the video of the test. You will see that the Test schedule report shows the test as the next thing to run and the apparatus will have a status of Ready to add additional scoring...

If at this point, if you change your mind, you can either select Un-mark this test for additional scoring from the Testing status menu, or you can go back to the Test details report and click the Un-mark test for additional scoring button in the ribbon bar.

Assuming you wish to proceed, then you just need to click the Start test button for the apparatus:

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ANY-maze will automatically rewind the video to just before the test start and will then start the test at exactly the same moment as it started when it was originally performed.

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You can then use the keys on the keyboard to score any of the behaviours you defined in the keys element of the protocol.

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ANY-maze will automatically end the test at the same moment that it ended when it was originally performed, but you can end it beforehand if you wish, by clicking the

Stop test button. If you do this a message will be displayed asking whether you want to save the results for the scoring you have just performed or not. If you answer No, only the additional scoring for the review you're ending will be lost, all the previous results for the test will be retained.

There is no limit to how many times you can add additional scoring to a test, you just need to go back to step 2, above and click the Mark test for additional scoring button again.

Choosing when to start a test

Ordinarily, when adding additional scoring to a test, ANY-maze will start the test automatically at the same time as it started when originally performed. If you wish you can override this default behaviour and start the test yourself. To do this, when you reach step 6, in the above instructions, you should click the little down arrow next to the Start test button, and un-check the option to Automatically start tests when adding additional scoring in the menu that appears.

You will then be able to start the test at any point in the video by clicking the start test button.

When using this option it is important to understand that ANY-maze times all events in a test in relation to the test start and that by using this option you can alter the test start in relation to the video, thus altering the times at which scoring appears to occur. This doesn't affect existing results, but will affect the results scored in the manually started test.

What happens if key strokes overlap?

A possible problem that can occur when adding additional scoring to a test, is that two keystrokes may overlap. For example, imagine you pressed key A at time 10s and released it at time 15s. Then you scored the test again and pressed key A at time 12s and released it at time 17s - what should ANY-maze score, one key press or two, and how long should it say the key was pressed for?

This issue is addressed by the options available in the Additional scoring - overlapping keystrokes sub-element in the Analysis element of the protocol, and you'll find a full description of the options here.

ANY-maze help topic T0821