# Self-Paced Reading Event Type

Commonly used in reading experiments, the Self-Paced Reading event type makes it easier to present segments of text one at a time. An example of use is:

The quick\brown fox\jumps\over\the lazy dog

In this example, the backslash (\) is used as a segment break and is replaced by a space when running the experiment. SuperLab supports "cumulative" and "non-cumulative" displays. In non-cumulative mode, a displayed segment causes the previous one to disappear:

The quick _____ ___ _____ ____ ___ ____ ___

___ _____ brown fox _____ ____ ___ ____ ___

___ _____ _____ ___ jumps ____ ___ ____ ___

___ _____ _____ ___ _____ over ___ ____ ___

___ _____ _____ ___ _____ ____ the lazy dog

In cumulative mode, all segments remain displayed:

The quick _____ ___ _____ ____ ___ ____ ___

The quick brown fox _____ ____ ___ ____ ___

The quick brown fox jumps ____ ___ ____ ___

The quick brown fox jumps over ___ ____ ___

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

The progress from one segment to the next is controlled by the settings in the Event Editor’s Input tab. The next segment can be displayed after a response from the participant, a time limit, or both.

- Click on the List View tab to see the segments as a list instead:

- Click on the Preview button to see how the self-paced reading event will be presented. When previewing, SuperLab does not use the settings in the Event Editor’s Input tab and displays the segments one after the other with a brief delay.

- Click on the Show grid checkbox to have SuperLab display a grid the next time you preview. The grid lines are 50 pixels apart and are displayed only when previewing from within the Event Editor; they are not shown when running an experiment.

- Click on the Settings button to have another dialog appear and set the various options that are available; more about that below.

### Self-Paced Reading Settings

The Text, Position, and Presentation Options tabs are identical to the ones for Text events. The settings that are specific to Self-Paced Reading are shown below:

- Click on the Display Type popup menu to select cumulative or non-cumulative mode.

- The Preview Character is what SuperLab uses to substitute for the segments that are not shown. The underline (_) works best. If you don’t want anything to appear, press the space bar.

- You can specify what characters constitute Segment Breaks. You can specify more than one.

- If you turn off the Replace segment breaks with space checkbox, it becomes up to you to provide a space between the segments or words.

### See Also

- Text

- Trial Variables