In this stage, participants were instructed to use purely exploratory browsing to navigate through the hypertext to locate five target cards. The purpose of this stage is to assess whether the participants had sufficient knowledge of the system to reorient themselves after the distraction task and efficiently locate a random node. 

What was recorded?
- Number of cards opened over and above the minimum amount of cards needed to locate each target card
- Time taken to find each card

Stage Four: Card Locating Task - "Disorientation in hypertext: the effects of three text structures on navigation performance"

In this stage, participants' attention was directed away from the text. Subjects were asked to complete the spatial sub-scale of the AH5 test. After completing this distraction task, their attention was redirected to the hypertext for the next task. 

Boston University

In this stage, participants browsed through the hypertext documents to answer 10 questions (randomized). Each questions' answer was to be found within a specific node. Once an answer was found in a node, they clicked an answer button and typed the plausible answer. Participants were encouraged to browse through relevant nodes even if they knew the answer prior to reading and to answer questions in order they are found. 

What was recorded?
- Number of cards opened and over the minimum needed to locate each answer
- Time it took for each participant to locate answers
- Accuracy of participant answers

Stage Two: Question Answering Task - "Disorientation in hypertext: the effects of three text structures on navigation performance"

McDonald, S., & Stevenson, R. J. (1996). Disorientation in hypertext: The effects of three text structures on navigation performance. Applied ergonomics, 27(1), 61-68.

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