In SuperLab, a macro is an "expression" that returns "true"
or "false" when evaluated, with two optional accompanying lists
of "actions" to perform depending on whether the expression
evaluates to true or false:
You can start building the expression by clicking on the New (+) button; see the Expression Editor for more details
Click on the If True tab and add the actions that you want performed if the expression is true when evaluated
Click on the If False tab and add the actions that you want performed if the expression is false when evaluated
The following actions are available:
Exit Experiment: Exits the experiment immediately and saves the participant data.
Go to Another Block: Using this action, SuperLab can go back to the previous block, go on to the next one, or go to a specific block of your choosing. In all three cases, any remaining trials in the current block are skipped.
Present Event: Presents an event without interfering with the flow of the experiment.
Repeat Current Block: Skips any remaining trials in the current block and starts all over.
Repeat Trial: Repeats the last presented trial in the current block.
Skip Next Trial: Skips the next trial. If there are no more trials in the block, SuperLab proceeds to the next block.
SuperLab provides a rich set of actions that cause “jumps”, meaning that they interrupt the sequential flow of an experiment and cause SuperLab to jump to another block. All are relative jumps except Go to Another Block with the Present Block option selected, which causes an absolute jump. Relative jumps are relative to the current block being presented. If possible, using relative jumps is preferred over an absolute jump because it allows a macro to be reused. An example is a staircase procedure where you create a single reusable macro that goes to the next block if the expression is true or goes back to the previous one if the expression is false.