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Stimulus Comprehension & Manipulation Check Assessment

A research-grade instrument for verifying that experimental participants correctly perceived, understood, and interpreted a presented stimulus. Designed for researchers conducting experiments who need to validate manipulation fidelity and comprehension before analyzing dependent variables.

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Sample questions

A preview of what’s in the template. Every question is editable before you launch.

20 questions · ~9 min
Q01
Message

Welcome, and thank you for participating in this study. You will answer a short set of questions about a stimulus you just viewed. Your participation is entirely voluntary and you may stop at any time without penalty. There are no right or wrong answers — we are simply interested in your honest impressions. All responses are confidential and will be reported only in aggregate for research purposes. This survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. By continuing, you indicate that you have read the above and agree to participate.

Q02
Multiple Choice

Did the stimulus (image, text, or video) display correctly on your device?

  • Yes
  • No
Q03
Multiple Choice

Which of the following topics best describes the stimulus you viewed?

  • Environmental impact
  • Personal finance
  • Health behavior change
  • Product or service promotion
  • Public policy or government
  • Not sure / Don't remember
Q04
Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes how the information in the stimulus was presented?

  • Focused on data or statistics
  • Focused on a personal story
  • A mix of data and personal story
  • Neutral or purely informational
  • Not sure
Q05
Opinion Scale

Overall, how clear was the stimulus?

Scale: 1 – 7
Min:Very unclearMax:Very clear
Q06
Long Text

Based on your responses in this survey, is there anything else about your experience with the stimulus or this study that you would like to share?

Q07
Dropdown

What is your age?

  • 18–24
  • 25–34
  • 35–44
  • 45–54
  • 55–64
  • 65 or older
  • Prefer not to say
Q08
Message

Thank you for participating! Your responses have been recorded and will be used for research purposes only. You may now close this window.

Q09
Long Text

Please describe what went wrong with the display (e.g., blank screen, audio not playing, image not loading).

Q10
Long Text

In your own words, what was the main message of the stimulus you viewed?

Q11
Multiple Choice

What position or stance did the stimulus communicate?

  • Promoted a behavior or idea
  • Discouraged a behavior or idea
  • Neutral / No clear stance
  • Not sure
Q12
Opinion Scale

How persuasive did you find the stimulus?

Scale: 1 – 7
Min:Not at all persuasiveMax:Extremely persuasive
Q13
AI Interview

We'd like to explore your thoughts about the stimulus a bit further. An AI moderator will ask you a couple of brief follow-up questions about your understanding and reactions.

Q14
Multiple Choice

What is your gender?

  • Woman
  • Man
  • Non-binary
  • Another gender identity
  • Prefer not to say
Q15
Multiple Choice

What action, if any, did the stimulus suggest you take?

  • Sign a petition
  • Share with others
  • Donate money
  • Make a personal change
  • No specific action
  • Not sure
Q16
Opinion Scale

How personally relevant was the stimulus to you?

Scale: 1 – 7
Min:Not at all relevantMax:Extremely relevant
Q17
Multiple Choice

What is the highest level of education you have completed?

  • Less than high school
  • High school diploma or equivalent
  • Some college
  • Associate degree
  • Bachelor's degree
  • Graduate or professional degree
  • Prefer not to say
Q18
Opinion Scale

If the stimulus included visuals, how helpful were they for understanding the message?

Scale: 1 – 7
Min:Not at all helpfulMax:Extremely helpful
Q19
Multiple Choice

Which region do you primarily live in?

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Latin America / Caribbean
  • Middle East / North Africa
  • North America
  • Oceania
  • Prefer not to say
Q20
Ranking

Please rank the following elements by how much each influenced your understanding of the stimulus (drag the most influential to the top).

  1. Headline or text
  2. Statistics or figures
  3. Imagery or visuals
  4. Source or brand
  5. Tone or word choice
Drag to rank

What’s included

  • AI follow-ups

    Adaptive probes on open-ended answers that pull out detail a static form would miss.

  • Attention checks

    Built-in safeguards against rushed answers and low-quality respondents.

  • AI-drafted copy

    Wording, ordering, and branching written by the AI — tuned to your research goal.

  • Auto report

    Themes, quotes, and a plain-English summary write themselves once responses come in.

Why this template

What this template is built to do — we found no directly comparable template from other survey tools to review.

What sets it apart

  • Opens with a technical stimulus-display check (multiple choice) plus an open-text follow-up to capture exactly what went wrong (blank screen, no audio, etc.) before comprehension data is even analyzed
  • Uses layered multiple-choice items on topic, main message, suggested action, and communicated stance to triangulate whether participants actually understood the intended manipulation, not just whether they clicked through it
  • Opinion scales on clarity, persuasiveness, personal relevance, and visual helpfulness quantify manipulation strength, and a ranking question isolates which stimulus elements drove comprehension
  • Includes an adaptive AI follow-up interview to probe ambiguous or low-comprehension responses in participants' own words, plus demographics and an auto-generated report for fast manipulation-check writeups

Ready to launch?

Open this template in the editor. Every part is yours to change before the first respondent sees it.

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