27  Preferences

The Preferences window is where all the T.O.V.A. settings are managed. Choose the category you are looking for on the left and the settings for that category will be displayed. Choose ‘Save’ when you’ve finished making your changes.

Note: Preferences available may vary based on your operating system, hardware, language, etc. Contact T.O.V.A. tech support if you have questions.

27.1  Admin Preferences

Some T.O.V.A. settings require Admin privileges to change. Even if your login is an Administrator on the computer, the T.O.V.A. application may run without Admin privileges (this is the default behavior in Windows).

These restricted preferences can only be modified from ‘T.O.V.A. Admin Settings’ (section 37.5).

Note: Some preferences that can be modified in the T.O.V.A. application are not accessible in T.O.V.A. Admin settings.

27.2  System Preferences

The T.O.V.A. needs full access to the shared TOVA folder

All T.O.V.A. System preferences (as opposed to Admin preferences) should be fully accessible to all T.O.V.A. users. If the T.O.V.A. is unable to write to files in the shared TOVA folder, you may be prompted to let the T.O.V.A. application fix the problem.

If you encounter this error (Figure 44) and you have Administrator access to your Windows PC, click ‘OK’ and grant the T.O.V.A. access to make changes to your computer.

Mac users: This built-in function is currently only available for Windows. If the T.O.V.A. reports “Your system preferences couldn’t be saved.”, there’s a script on your T.O.V.A. flash drive that can correct the problem:

1. Close the T.O.V.A. application.
2. Insert the TOVA CD, which will show up as volume ‘TOVATEST’.
3. Go to the ‘utilities‘ folder on the T.O.V.A. CD.
4. Open the ‘Fix Mac Permissions’ command script. This will open a Terminal window to run the script.
5. Blind-type your Mac user account password when prompted for authorization. (If you don’t have one, get an administrator of this computer to run the script from their account.)
6. When finished, close the Terminal window and start the TOVA application.

Please contact T.O.V.A. technical support if you continue to have permissions issues (section 29).

27.3  Custom fields: Subjects and Sessions

Custom Subject Fields

The T.O.V.A. allows you to add your own fields to the T.O.V.A. database and display the information on reports and the main window. This can be of particular use to researchers.

In the Preferences window, you can ‘Add’ new custom fields, select and ‘Edit’ them, or ‘Remove’ fields you no longer want. Custom fields can be flagged as containing Protected Health Information, in which case they will be removed or hidden along with Subject Name when appropriate (see section 26 for more information on PHI).

• Custom fields are treated as plain text and limited to 255 characters; you can use them to store numeric values or dates, but they will be sorted as text.
• Removing a custom field will remove all data entered into that field for all subjects or sessions. If you just want to hide the field from reports, customize the report (section 21.1). If you want to hide the field when entering new subjects or sessions, designate it a ‘Legacy field’ (section 27.6).

There are two kinds of custom fields: subject and session. Subject fields follow the subject through all of their sessions, whereas session fields apply to a specific T.O.V.A. test session. Let’s say you’re doing a study of how “Hair length" affects attention and impulsivity. While length of hair applies to a subject, it could easily vary between sessions. The first time you test Tina Anderson, she may have long, flowing hair, but by the time you test her again, she may have cut it short. Therefore, you should add “Hair length" as a session field, not a subject field. Conversely, “Eye color" should be a subject field as it is unlikely to change over the course of one’s life.

27.3.1  Why can’t I see my custom fields?

By default, custom fields will not appear on the main window or report. To add them to the main window, see Subject/Session Table fields, section 27.8. To add them to the report, see Customizing the Report, section 21.1.

27.4  Database

Note: Some of these settings are Admin preferences (section 27.1).

Database options

The T.O.V.A. stores all of your T.O.V.A. test sessions in a database. There are two database configurations you can choose from:

Shared

- All of the users (clinicians, testers, etc.) on your computer will use the same database. This is the default database configuration and works well if everyone using the T.O.V.A. on the computer wants access to the same subjects. By default, a shared database will be stored here:

Windows default path:

C:\ProgramData\TOVA\data

Mac default path:

/Users/Shared/TOVA/data

Separate

- Each user on your computer will have their own database. This arrangement is best when there are multiple professionals administering the T.O.V.A. on the same computer and they want to keep their subjects’ data separate from each other. Note: This is based on your OS’s login; the T.O.V.A. does not keep its own list of users, so if you all log into Windows using the same username and password, you will still all have the same database. By default, a separate database will be stored here:

Windows default path:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\TOVA\data

Mac default path:

<your home directory>/Library/Application Support/TOVA/data

See section 37.6 for more information on changing your database path.

27.5  Database Backup

Note: These are mostly Admin preferences (see section 27.1).

Back up your database automatically

We have always encouraged users to back up their T.O.V.A. database themselves (and continue to do so), but now you have new backup options:

• Automatic backups - By default, the T.O.V.A. backs up your database every seven days to a single file in your database path that starts with autobackup-complete-.tova. The Database backup section of the T.O.V.A. preferences lets you disable this feature or choose a different backup path. You can choose to back up more or less often (e.g., every 7 days or every 90 days). If you change this interval to ‘0’ days, the T.O.V.A. will back up your database every time you start the T.O.V.A. application! Finally, you may uncheck ‘Overwrite previous backup’, and the current date will be appended to your backup’s filename, so that backups from previous days will not be overwritten.
• Back up sessions to the T.O.V.A. server - When you enable this feature, the T.O.V.A. will securely upload a backup of your entire database to The TOVA Company’s servers. As you administer new sessions, the T.O.V.A. will continue these backups automatically. This is independent of the automatic local backups, and it is turned off by default.

  This feature requires an internet connection, of course. Because this data may contain Protected Health Information (PHI), all data is encrypted and transmitted using the latest security protocols. To recover backups uploaded to the T.O.V.A. server, just send us a Technical support request (section 29).

  You can also click ‘Back up database to the TOVA server now’, and a full backup of your entire database will be uploaded to The TOVA Company server.

• Manual backup - You can easily back up your database manually—see section 23.1 for details.

27.6  Legacy fields

A field is designated as a ‘legacy field’ if it is no longer being added or edited for new or existing subjects or sessions, but it is kept around for historical purposes. For instance, ‘Height’ and ‘Weight’ were fields in the T.O.V.A. 7, but are not used in the T.O.V.A. . When you import T.O.V.A. 7 files, any height and weight data will be imported as well, but you cannot edit these fields.

If you decide you want to be able to add or edit Height or Weight in the T.O.V.A. , you should de-select these as Legacy fields. Conversely, if your colleague shares a T.O.V.A. file with you that contains a ‘Hair length’ field, you may wish to designate that a legacy field, so that it will not appear as a field the next time you start a new session.

27.7  Logging options

Logging options

Logging is a very useful tech support tool for the T.O.V.A. . By default, the log will record in a file all error messages you may encounter in the T.O.V.A. . By adjusting the settings, you can record more or less information, or none at all, if you choose.

You can specify what information should be logged (by importance/severity), where your T.O.V.A. log file will be stored, and how logging will be performed. Generally, T.O.V.A. users will not want or need to modify these settings from their defaults unless asked to do so by T.O.V.A. technical support.

The T.O.V.A. log, as well as other relevant computer information, can be sent to T.O.V.A. technical support through our support request feature (section 29). The TOVA Company will not collect any information from your computer without your consent.

27.8  Main window: Subject/Session Table

With the Subject and Session Table preferences you can select which fields will or will not appear on the main window Subject and Session tables. The Subject table can display any or all of the default Subject fields, as well as any custom Subject fields. The Session table, likewise, can contain all of the default and custom Session fields, as well as all the Subject fields. Select the fields you want to see when browsing subjects and sessions and keep unnecessary information from cluttering your interface.

Session Table fields

Note: Even if a private field is added, it will not appear if PHI is hidden (see section 27.11).

27.9  Miscellaneous

Note: Some of these settings are Admin preferences. You may need to run ‘T.O.V.A. Admin Settings’ (see section 27.1) to modify them.

This is our grab bag of preferences that didn’t belong elsewhere. You would do best to ignore this section until and unless you actually need it.

• Automatic test date/time - Most users will want to use their computer’s hardware clock to automatically set the Test Date/Time. If your computer’s hardware clock is bad, uncheck this setting to set the Test Date/Time manually. We recommend you fix your computer’s hardware clock instead. Note: If your computer does not hold the correct time, it usually indicates your computer has a bad CMOS battery. This can cause continual problems. You should consider replacing the battery or using a different computer to administer the T.O.V.A. in the future.
• Default to offline ordering - Some T.O.V.A. computers have internet connections that don’t work for online ordering, but ordinarily the T.O.V.A. would continue to try to order credits online. When checked, this tells the T.O.V.A. to use offline ordering only. It can also be helpful for fixing some ordering issues.
• Enable Research mode? - This will enable features that are not cleared for diagnostic or clinical use as a medical device. More on these features appears in the Research User’s Manual. For more information, see section 38.6.
• Current subject number - Let’s say you want to start numbering all your new T.O.V.A. subjects at 20000. This is where you do that.

  Note: By default, ‘Subject number’ is considered a “legacy field”. It will not be available for editing until you deselect it under Legacy fields (section 27.6).

27.10  Password

Note: This is an Admin preference (see section 27.1).

If there are users on your computer whom you don’t want accessing the T.O.V.A. , here you can set a password for the app. This is a computer-wide password and, of course, may only be set or removed by an administrator.

Note: This password only controls access to the T.O.V.A. application. Securing your T.O.V.A. data is a function of your operating system, through user-access levels and file/directory permissions, and while the T.O.V.A. accommodates this, the T.O.V.A. software does not itself encrypt or restrict your data.

27.11  Protected Health Information

Note: Some of these settings are Admin preferences (section 27.1).

If you are using the main window (where you browse subject information) in view of your subjects, you may want to hide Protected Health Information from view. Choosing ‘Hide Protected Health Information’ will leave Subject Name and other protected fields off of the main window, the session screen, and all reports, and never write it to the T.O.V.A. USB device .

You also have an option here to not ‘Display subjects and sessions on startup and blank search’. Deselecting this option means that until you enter search criteria, the main window will display no subjects or sessions, instead of every subject and session, which is the default behavior. In addition to not revealing PHI, this makes starting up the T.O.V.A. faster, especially if you have a lot of subjects in your database.

Finally, this panel notes whether you’ve accepted the T.O.V.A. Business Associate Agreement (BAA) and provides an option to review and accept or decline it. Note: Accepting or declining the Business Associate Agreement requires you to have Administrator access to your computer.

See section 26 for more information on protecting personal health information.

27.12  Reports

The settings here simply mirror those available in the Customize Report window (section 21.1).

27.13  Session launch

Your session launch options determine which session type will be launched and how. You can modify these session launch options in the Preferences window (section 27) or for a single session by clicking ‘Options’ in the ‘New Test Session’ window (see section 20.4.1);

27.13.1  Session type

You will always launch a T.O.V.A. session the same way, by creating a new session and clicking the ‘Launch’ button. The first option here is to choose what type of session you will launch.

If this is an EAV test session, launching a session will immediately bring up the EAV session screen. Launching a PTE session, on the other hand, requires rebooting your computer.

• For more information on session types, see section 32.
• For more information about the PTE, see section 34.
• For more information about the EAV, see section 33.

27.13.2  PTE options

If you choose to test with the PTE, there are several mechanisms for doing it. The available options will vary, based on your computer and its configuration.

• ‘Automatic’ (Windows default) - When you click ‘Launch’, the T.O.V.A. will analyze your computer, then modify your computer’s boot configuration to trigger the PTE when you reboot. If this method does not work for your computer, or if you prefer that the T.O.V.A. not make changes to your computer’s boot configuration, consult T.O.V.A. technical support (section 29) for other options.

  Note: On some Windows 7 computers, the Automatic option is not available, and you’ll need to use a T.O.V.A. CD or flash drive instead.

  Note: Many Windows PCs require a T.O.V.A. flash drive (the USB thumb drive with the blue TOVA logo) to boot the PTE automatically. If you do not have your T.O.V.A. flash drive, you may use your own FAT32-formatted USB drive or SD card.

  1. Insert the flash media.
  2. In the Session launch preferences, select ‘ESP with flash drive’.
  3. Next to ESP with flash drive, click ‘Select drive...’.
  4. In the Choose a Drive window, click the ‘Eligible drives’ drop-down, select your inserted drive, and click ‘OK’. The T.O.V.A. application will copy the necessary files to your drive, which may take a few minutes. When it’s finished, you should see the name of your drive next to the ESP with flash drive option.
  5. Confirm that under Reboot the computer..., ‘immediately’ is selected, then click ‘Save’.
  6. Finally, ‘Try out the PTE’ to make sure your new boot method works (section 34.1.2).
• ‘EFI System Partition (default)’ - (Mac default) This option will boot the PTE from images copied to your computer’s EFI System Partition.
• ‘ESP (EFI System Partition)’ - This option will boot the PTE from images copied to your computer’s EFI System Partition.
• ‘ESP with flash drive’ - This option will configure the PTE to boot from your ESP and T.O.V.A. flash drive. If you no longer have your T.O.V.A. flash drive, you can click ‘Select drive...’ to choose your own attached FAT32-formatted USB drive, so long as it has about 200 MB free. Contact T.O.V.A. tech support for assistance.
• ‘ESP with path’ - This option will boot the PTE from a root image placed where you specify. By default, this is your T.O.V.A. application install path, but you can choose another if your install path is encrypted. (The T.O.V.A. cannot access the root image on an encrypted drive.) Consult T.O.V.A. Tech Support (section 29 before choosing this option.
• ‘Use boot CD’ - Choose this option to boot the PTE with a T.O.V.A. CD. This option may require additional steps or configuration. Contact T.O.V.A. tech support for assistance. Note: Make sure to always update your CD (section 35.3) when you update the T.O.V.A. software.
• ‘Use flash drive’ - Choose this option to boot the PTE with a T.O.V.A. flash drive (the small metallic thumb drive). This option may require additional steps or configuration. If you no longer have your T.O.V.A. flash drive, you can click ‘Select drive...’ (Windows only) to choose your own attached FAT32-formatted USB drive, so long as it has about 200 MB free. Contact T.O.V.A. tech support for assistance.
• ‘Use legacy PTE’ - Choose this option to boot the legacy PTE on a Mac from a T.O.V.A. CD or flash drive. This option may require additional steps or configuration. Contact T.O.V.A. tech support for assistance. Note: Make sure to always update your CD (section 35.3) when you update the T.O.V.A. software.
• ‘Windows boot menu’ - This option can be useful if your older computer has issues with the T.O.V.A. service and automatic booting. It configures your computer to always start up with a boot menu for 30 seconds, giving you time to choose to boot Windows or the T.O.V.A. Precision Test Environment. We don’t recommend choosing this option unless specifically directed by T.O.V.A. technical support.

It’s best to try the default options first. See section 34.1 for information and instructions on trying out the PTE.

27.13.3  Reboot options

There are also several rebooting alternatives:

• ‘immediately’ - (default) This option will reboot your computer after preparing the computer to boot the PTE.
• ‘later’ - The T.O.V.A. will exit but not reboot, so you can reboot your computer yourself later.
• ‘to the Boot Options Menu’ - This option can help you boot to a T.O.V.A. flash drive on some Windows 8, 10, or 11 computers. It will take you to a special Windows menu; there, choose ‘Use a device’ and trigger the T.O.V.A. flash drive to boot. Consult T.O.V.A. technical support (section 29) for help finding the right option.
• ‘yourself after the computer shuts down’ - This will power down your computer instead of just rebooting it, so that you can power it on and press a special key to trigger the one-time boot menu. Consult T.O.V.A. technical support (section 29) for assistance.

27.13.4  Check PTE boot media

The T.O.V.A. will check and update T.O.V.A. boot media when you launch a PTE test session. If directed by tech support, choose this option to bypass those functions.

27.14  Stimuli settings

Stimuli settings

These are the settings the T.O.V.A. will use to size the stimuli for the visual test, as well as simple volume adjustments for the auditory stimuli. The visual T.O.V.A. ’s stimuli are two easily discriminated geometric figures centered on the computer screen (Figure 51).

T.O.V.A. Stimuli, Target and Nontarget

The visual T.O.V.A. was normed using stimuli under the following conditions:

• A 12-inch screen (measured diagonally)
• An eye-to-monitor distance of roughly 36 inches
• Stimuli appear as 3-inch squares (measured diagonally)
• Stimuli presented near the subject’s eye level

These are the recommended conditions; however, monitor size, type (standard or widescreen), resolution, and distance from the subject’s eyes may vary. Target size is important for the following reasons:

• Stimuli that are too small (or too far away) can be visually fatiguing. Since the T.O.V.A. is a test of attention, not visual acuity, the subject must be able to easily discern the target and nontarget stimuli for results to be valid.
• Stimuli that are too large (or too close) require large eye sweeps to discern targets from nontargets. Eye sweeping can slow response time and be visually fatiguing. The subject should be able to see the complete stimuli and screen all at once, without having to sweep their eyes to discern the target/nontarget.

Most computer configurations are well within these parameters. However, some laptops, LCD monitors, or other widescreen displays may not have the capability to “expand” the T.O.V.A. ’s smaller VGA testing screen resolution to an appropriate size. This can result in a “miniature screen” in the middle of a larger monitor, and the stimuli are subsequently very small on the screen. To address situations such as this, the T.O.V.A. software has these scale adjustment settings.

It is recommended that you closely approximate the three-inches-diagonal measurement. If the adjustments here are not sufficient to display the stimuli properly, we recommend that a different monitor be used for T.O.V.A. testing.

Stimuli for the auditory test are two easily discriminated audible tones: the target is G above middle C, and the nontarget is middle C, played though external speakers placed on either side of the display. Since the T.O.V.A. should always be administered in a quiet location, free from distraction (it is a test of attention), the volume need only be adjusted to a comfortable level.

The very first setting on this panel we will mention last. ‘Auditory calibration’ is used to adjust test timing to the slight delay (about 3.5 ms) that occurs when using USB speakers. If you are directed by technical support to use USB speakers, we will give you the appropriate value to be entered here. If you are not using USB speakers, this value should be left alone.

27.15  Test instructions

Here is where you can change the default settings for the T.O.V.A. multimedia test instructions (see section 36 for more information).

Test instruction options

• ‘Instructions language’ - The T.O.V.A. can give test instructions in several different languages. This setting applies only to test instructions, not to any other part of the user interface. Note: Some languages are not available in the legacy PTE.
• ‘Mute instructions’ - If you choose to mute the test instructions, you will need to manually step through the instructions. This may be useful if you find that the instructions are spoken too quickly for your subject to understand.
• ‘Enable full screen mode for instructions’ - Some Windows computers had problems with the test instructions, so we’ve disabled that full screen mode by default. The change makes it easier to switch away from the T.O.V.A. multimedia instructions to another application, so re-enable this if you like.
• Display instructions on which screen - If you have multiple screens or a laptop with an external monitor, this lets you select on which screen to display the test instructions, with the first display numbered ‘0’. Note: You need to be using the two as separate screens—“extended desktop", not “mirroring"—for this setting to function.

If you just need to change these settings temporarily for the session you’re about to give, click ‘Instructions language’ from the New Test Session window (section 20.4).

27.16  Updates

Note: Some of these settings are Admin preferences (section 27.1).

All T.O.V.A. customers are entitled to free software upgrades, and we can send you updates automatically when we fix bugs or add new features.

Note: While you may or may not elect to download T.O.V.A. updates automatically, we never install an update without asking permission.

When you install or update the T.O.V.A. software, we like to collect information about your hardware and configuration. This helps us understand how our customers use the T.O.V.A. software and provide tech support if you encounter a problem. Here, you can opt not to send this information.

27.17  Windows Service

Note: This setting only appears on Windows computers.

Most Windows computers that test with the PTE (section 32) use an “Automatic" method, so they don’t require manual steps for testing. These employ the T.O.V.A. PTE Activation service (section 38.7) to boot the PTE.

If you are having problems with the T.O.V.A. service, you can disable communication with it, which prevents service-related messages from appearing. However, the T.O.V.A. will regularly prompt you for permission to perform the tasks that the service would normally perform in the background. Please see section 38.7.2 for more information or contact T.O.V.A. tech support for help in resolving service issues (section 29).