Distractors > Nouns - Singular / Plural

• Zigzag Generator allows you to assign distractors to textual segments in a fully or partially automatized manner. In the first case, the generation of distractors is done for all the textual segments, without the user's intervention. However, partially automatized generation of distractors allows for the choice of the best-suited distractors among those suggested by Zigzag Generator, for each segment of the text in turn. In order to fully automatize the generation, the box marked Random Generation of Distractors (Full text or Selected segments) must be checked.
• Selecting the horizontal view (View > Horizontal View menu or the button of the toolbar) generally makes it easier to follow the process of distractor generation. The following explanations will pertain to the horizontal view. However, the vertical view facilitates working in multi-selection mode (cf. Note).

  
  

Partially Automatized Substitution of 'Singular / Plural'

• Select the menu Distractors > Nouns - Singular / Plural. The following window will appear:
  

• This window allows you to generate a word form as a distractor which distinguishes itself from the textual segment on the basis of grammatical number (singular / plural). To add one or multiple distractors to text segments (also called target-segments), first determine the kind of substitution desired:
  
  
  • Accept the values selected by default (field on the left: Singular, field on the right: Plural) or modify them for Plural and Singular respectively.
    
    
  • Accept the unidirectional arrow selected by default or click on the bidirectional arrow.
    
    
    
• You can then proceed in one of the following two manners:
  
  
  • Double-click on one of the bold-type distractors displayed in the window Segment No. 31.
    
    
  • Click once on the bold-type distractor and then on the checkmark labelled Generate Distractor. The selected distractor will be transferred to the test matrix (visible in horizontal view mode only).

• You can browse through the segments of a text in two ways:
  
  
  • Click on the arrow Previous without Distractor and Next without Distractor in the Nouns - Singular / Plural window.
    
    
  • In the integrated editor of Zigzag Generator (vertical or horizontal view), select the textual segment desired. It will then appear in the Nouns - Singular / Plural window.

  
  

  Fully Automatized Substitution of 'Singular / Plural'

• Instead of selecting the distractors one after the other, you can randomly generate them either for the whole text, or for the pre-selected segments in the editor. In order to do this, check the box marked Random Generation of Distractors (Full text or Selected segments). The window called Nouns - Singular / Plural will then take on a different look:
  
  
  
  
  
• Since the number of distractors available for gender substitutions is limited to one, the maximum number of distractors displayed does nothing to modify the results. You can therefore keep the default value.
  
  
• Click on the checkmark Generate Distractors and then on Close.

   

  Assigning a Code to 'Singular / Plural' Substitutions
  
  
• Using a code allows you to obtain specific information on the segments corresponding to that code. It is thus possible to code or not code the textual segments affected by the command Distractors > Nouns - Singular / Plural. The chosen code is visible in horizontal and vertical mode. Three options are available:
  
  
  
• Select the button Use the code 'NoSP'.
  
  
• Select the button Use one of the following codes (cf. scroll-down menu). This option is only available if other codes have already been generated for the text. If it seems appropriate, one of those codes can be reused.
  
  
• Select the button No code. This option is to be used if you do not require specific information for these segments in the results section.
  

Note. In the vertical view, you can simultaneously select many textual segments in the integrated editor of Zigzag Generator (multi-selection mode). To do so, hold down the Ctrl key while selecting the textual segments of interest. These will become red (and not dark blue as is the case for singly-selected segments).

When you are in multi-selection mode, random generation of segments is applicable only to the selected segments (and not to the segments of the full text). Similarly, in partially automatized generation the arrows Previous without Distractor and Next without Distractor allow you to access only the segments selected at the time.

Summary Table of Commands