ARCHIVE -- [not up to date] Glossary of BLAB Terms

archived in 2023

Devices

  • Looxcie: the little battery-powered camera that we use to see what the child is doing in Eyetracking. Previously these were worn by children in SEEDLingS to collect data.

  • LENA: Small purple audio device worn for a whole day by the child (stands for Language Environment Analysis)

  • Eyelink: our eyetracker

  • Host computer: The computer that runs the eyetracker and records data. It runs a special version of Linux and can do nothing besides run the eyetracker.

  • Display computer: The Windows computer that actually runs the experiment. It communicates with the host computer about when to record data.

Software/programs

  • ELAN: a multipurpose media analysis program that we use to annotate VIHI audio files, encode looking in gaze-based experiments, and conduct reliability training for coders of discrimination studies, among other things

  • Datavyu: the program we use to annotate SEEDLings videos (files end in .opf, or .csv if you're exporting)

  • CLAN: the program we use to annotate SEEDLings audio (files end in .cex or .cha, or if you're exporting .xls)

  • Vegas: the software that we import and sync the videos with (lives on Bergelson2014-2) (files end in .veg, or .mp4 if you're exporting)

  • Audacity: the software we use to find silences in the audio file, and to process the audio stimuli (files end in .wav for audio files and .txt for silences)

  • RStudio: statistics software, that uses the program R with a friendly interface, that can also manipulate data (files end in .r or .Rmd)

  • python: a programming language that some of our automated tasks use (files end in .py)

  • ruby: same as above (files end in .rb )

  • java: same as above (files end in .ja)

  • matlab: same as above (files end in .m)

  • pfsx files: This file contains user- and document- specific settings like the font size used to display text. The *.pfsx file can, however, be safely removed as it does not contain any annotation data (as opposed to the *.eaf files).

  • RPAD: A program through FileMaker Pro that contains data for participant recruitment purposes. Each study is listed, with specific participant requirements. With this data, the program will search for age-eligible candidates and provide their contact and demographic information.

Other terminology

  • annotate: mark things, such as object words, utterance boundaries, utterance types, object presence, and speakers

  • segment: to mark utterances in ELAN

  • transcribe: word for word typing of what is said, either using a specific notation or standard orthography

  • datasource: the spreadsheet that the eyetracker uses to know which stimuli to show the child and in what order

  • MCDI: vocabulary checklist parents' fill out (MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory). Also sometimes called the CDI.

  • CHI: stands for target child in annotations.

  • PI: Private info (that needs to be scrubbed out of recordings).

  • VI: visually impaired

  • HI: hearing impaired

  • TD: typically developing

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