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Stimuli

A stimulus is additional material that appears alongside a test question to provide relevant information or context. It can be any form of content — a passage of text, a graph, a diagram, an image, an audio clip, or a video.

In the example below, the stimulus is highlighted on the left. There are multiple tabs at the top, each containing a separate page of information. You can maximise and minimise the stimulus by selecting the arrow Stimulus arrow icon.

Stimulus example with open and close icon highlighted

Keyboard shortcuts

You can also use keyboard shortcuts to control the stimulus panel:

  • S — Expand or collapse the stimulus
  • Esc — Close reference materials
  • M — Toggle reference material

For the full list, see Keyboard shortcuts.

What your test administrator controls

  • Whether a stimulus appears at all, and what it contains.
  • Whether multiple stimulus tabs are available for a question.