Cumulative timing issue

[Leisha Wharfield]

Hi, everyone,

This problem is a little different from any I could find in the 
archives. I have a distraction task that must terminate after 10 
seconds. It can run as many times as necessary, but must terminate after 
10 seconds. One of two sounds is played randomly with replacement, with 
a wait of .5-1.5 seconds in between. Subjects respond to the sound by 
pushing one of two buttons.

I think I want to check the cumulative time of the task after each 
button press, and terminate the procedure if it's > 10 seconds. Is that 
the correct approach? What is the simplest way to do this?

Thanks,

Leisha Wharfield
Decision Research
Eugene, Oregon, USA