Separating the 'Decline' button from the others
You can manually set the location of any given button by placing top and left parameter values after the text label like:
Code:
decline to answer (t.8,l.5)
Another Option
You could also enter "decline to answer" in the *button* label field (e.g., as opposed to "6" or whatever) and widen it by adding a width parameter to the top and left ones you now and entering "none" as the text label
This way, you have a nice "decline to answer" *button* separated from the rest of the item options.
Fill-in-the-blanks
For fill-in the blank items, you normally have to type something to continue otherwise you get a prompt to do so. You can change this. The instructions for how to do it are contained in this file (be sure to follow the instructions carefully!):
Code:
C:\MediaLab\Styles\messages.txt
In your case, you could replace:
Code:
103,"It would be ideal if you were to type something before continuing.", fill in the blank
with:
Code:
103,"", fill in the blank
That will tell MediaLab to skip the prompt and allow subjects to continue without a response.
IMPORANT--Be sure to place the substitute.txt file in YOUR experiment folder unless you want the changes to affect ALL experiments.