Lesson 3 - Analyzing trial variables

The main purpose of Wintrack is the quantitative analysis of data recorded in water maze or similar experiments. This is what you will do next.

Analyzing a case document...

1. Select Open Case Document from the File menu and open the sample document SWIM2.WTR.
2. Select Analyze Case Document from the Analysis menu. The Analyze Case Document dialog is displayed:
   • In the dialog field labeled Variable definition, select the option from predefined list. From the list box located next to this option, select the variables tim to aer. You can use the mouse or the keyboard to make selections in that list, it behaves just like any standard Windows™ list box.
   • As you made selections in the list box, part of the dialog fields located underneath it have become active. For now, you can accept the default values contained in these fields.
   • In the dialog field labeled Report, select the option create new.
   • In the dialog field labeled Trial range and blocks, set block size to 0.
   • In the dialog field labeled Time window, select the option from begin and enter 120 for duration [s] and 0 for offset [s].
   • Click Ok to close the dialog box and start the analysis.
3. Wintrack will perform the analysis and display the results in a scrollsheet. Scrollsheets are Wintrack documents which are used to display tables with numbers or text.

   Note that the scrollsheet has a column for every variable you have selected in the Analyze Case Document dialog. To the left, Wintrack has inserted three additional columns labeled name, case and trial. If you scroll down using the vertical scrollbar, you will notice that there is a line for each of the 30 trials in the case document: the variables you have calculated are trial variables and have a value for every trial of the case document. Now let us add results from another case document to the same scrollsheet.

Adding more cases to the current analysis...

1. Without closing any of the open documents, select Open Case Document from the File menu and open the sample document SWIM3.WTR.
2. Select Analyze Case Document from the Analysis menu. The Analyze Case Document dialog is displayed:
   • Note that Wintrack has remembered all selections you have made the last time the dialog was open.
   • In the dialog field labeled Report, change the selection to merge. This is to instruct Wintrack to merge the results into an existing scrollsheet instead of creating a new one.
   • Click Ok to close the dialog box and start the analysis.
3. Wintrack completes the analysis of SWIM3.WTR.
4. Bring the scrollsheet to the foreground by clicking on its title bar.

   If you scroll down the contents of the scrollsheet, you will notice that Wintrack has appended the results at the bottom and has also complemented the three columns labeled name, case and trial. In the column case, cases are numbered consecutively as they are added to the scrollsheet. You will also notice that some of the added lines are empty because the corresponding trials contained no data. Now let us extend the analysis by adding more variables.

Adding more variables to the current analysis...

1. Minimize the scrollsheet by clicking the Minimize button of its window. Bring the case document SWIM3.WTR to the foreground by clicking its title bar.
2. Select Analyze Case Document from the Analysis menu. The Analyze Case Document dialog is displayed:
   • In the dialog field labeled Variable definition, select the option from predefined list. Scroll down the list box located next to this option and select the variables ppw to wtm.
   • As you changed the selections in the list box, part of the dialog fields located underneath it have changed their activation state. For now, you can accept the default values contained in these fields.
   • Click Ok to close the dialog box and start the analysis.
3. Let Wintrack complete the analysis of SWIM3.WTR. Bring the case document SWIM2.WTR to the foreground by clicking its title bar.
4. Again, select Analyze Case Document from the Analysis menu. The Analyze Case Document dialog is displayed. Click Ok without changing any of the selections.
5. Wintrack completes the analysis of SWIM2.WTR. Double click the icon of the scrollsheet to restore its window. As you scroll to the right, you will notice that six columns have been added corresponding to the new variables selected in the Analyze Case Document dialog.
6. Select Save Scrollsheet As from the File menu. The Save Scrollsheet As dialog is displayed:
   • In the dialog field labeled Save to, select the option file.
   • In the dialog field labeled Format, select the option normal.
   • Use the dialog field scrollsheet file to specify TUTOR1.WTB as the file name and your WINTRACK directory as the destination directory for saving the scrollsheet. The entry in the edit box may look something like this: C:\WINTRACK\TUTOR1.WTB.
   • Click Ok to save the scrollsheet.
7. Select Close All from Wintrack's Window menu. Click No whenever you are asked whether you wish to save a document before closing.

Lesson 4 - Using dialog history lists and the toolbar will show you how to work more efficiently in Wintrack using additional features of the user interface.