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Sustained Auditory Attention Ability Test (SAAAT)
- an auditory continuous performance test for children-
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Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Date: 12-06-2023
last updated: 10-16-2024 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 10-16-2024 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements Millisecond Software's computerized version of the Sustained Auditory Attention Ability Test (SAAAT),
a variant of an auditory continuous performance test to measure auditory vigilance and sustained attention
(Lemos & Feniman, 2010). The SAAAT was originally developed for children (age group: 6-11 years old).
Reference:
Lemos, I.C.C. & Feniman, M.R. (2010). Sustained Auditory Attention Ability Test (SAAAT) in seven year- old children
with cleft lip and palate. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol, 76(2): 199-205.
José, M. R., Mondelli, M. F. C. G., Correia, J. B., Bohn, V., Lauris, J. R. P., Zeigelboim, B. S.,
& Feniman, M. R. (2021). Adult Perfomance on the Sustained Auditory Attention Skill Test.
International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology, 25(2), e249–e254. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1712481
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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Participants hear a sequence of words with a new word being played every 1second.
Anytime participants hear the word 'no', they are instructed to press the Spacebar.
For any other word, they are instructed to simply wait for the next word.
The test runs a total of 600 word without a break (6 blocks of 100 trials each).
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 15 minutes to complete
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DATA FILE INFORMATION
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The default data stored in the data files are:
(1) Raw data file: 'saaat_raw*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
build: The specific Inquisit version used (the 'build') that was run
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
date, time: date and time script was run
subject: with the current subject id
group: with the current group id
session: with the current session id
blockcode, blocknum: the name and number of the current block (built-in Inquisit variable)
trialcode, trialnum: the name and number of the currently recorded trial (built-in Inquisit variable)
Note: trialnum is a built-in Inquisit variable; it counts all trials run; even those
that do not store data to the data file.
phase: practice vs. test
blockCounterPerPhase: counts the number of blocks run in the current phase
trialCounterPerBlock: counts the number of trials run in the current block
trialType: "target" vs. "noTarget"
stim: stores the itemnumber of the presented soundfile
stimulusitem: presented soundfile
response: the response of participant
respCategory: "hit", "omission", "correctReject", "commission"
corrResp: stores the correct response for the current trial
correct: correctness of response (1 = correct, 0 = error)
latency: response latency (in ms); measured from: onset of trial
(2) Summary data file: 'saaat_summary*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
inquisit.version: Inquisit version run
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
startDate: date script was run
startTime: time script was started
subjectid: assigned subject id number
groupid: assigned group id number
sessionid: assigned session id number
elapsedTime: time it took to run script (in ms); measured from onset to offset of script
completed: 0 = script was not completed (prematurely aborted);
1 = script was completed (all conditions run)
goTrialCountOverall: number of go-trials ('signal trials') overall
hitRateOverall: overall hit rate (responding on go-trials) - correct response
omissionRateOverall: overall omission rate (not responding on go-trials) - error response
nogoTrialCountOverall: number of nogo-trials ('noise trials') overall
commissionRateOverall: overall commission rate (responding on nogo-trials) - error response
corrRejectRateOverall: overall correct rejection rate (not responding on nogo-trials) - correct response
/////signal detection measures:
zHitRate: the calculate z-score of the hitRate during Phase X
zFaRate: the calculated z-score of the falseAlarm/commission rate during Phase X
Note: *Adjustments to z-scores as recommended by:
Gregg, A. & Sedikides, C. (2010). Narcissistic Fragility:
Rethinking Its Links to Explicit and Implicit Self-esteem, Self and Identity, 9:2, 142-161 (p.148)
=> Adjustments are made if the FArate (hitRate) = 0 (increased to 0.005) or 1 (decreased to 0.995)*
dprime: Computes d' (parametric measure of discriminability btw. signals and noise)
=> Range (in this script):
-5.1516586840152740479 <= dprime <= 5.1516586840152740479 (=perfect performance)
=> The higher the value, the better signals (go stims) were overall distinguished from noise (nogo stims)
(d' = 0: chance performance; negative d-primes: participant treated nontargets as targets and targets as nontargets)
c: c-criterion in signal detection:The absolute value of c provides an indication of the strength of
the response bias/response style
negative: participant more likely to report that signal is present (liberal response style);
may favor faster responding in speed-accuracy trade-off response paradigms
positive: favoring caution (conservative response style)
omissionErrorsOverall: total number of times participant made an omission Error
-> missed response to a target 'no'
(out of a total of 120 targets = 6blocks * 20targetsPerBlock)
=> Lemos & Feniman (2010): measure of inattention
commissionErrorsOverall: total number of times participant made a commission Error
-> response to a non-target
(out of 480 nontargets)
=> Lemos & Feniman (2010): measure of impulsivity
totalErrorsOverall: sum of all errors (out of 600)
vigilanceReduction: the difference in (hits from block1 - hits in block6)
=> Lemos & Feniman (2010): measure of sustained attention
///per block:
goTrialCount1: number of go-trials in block1
nogoTrialCount1: number of nogo-trials in block1
propCorrect1: proportion correct responses in block1
omissions1: number of omission errors made in block1 (missed responses to targets); Note: out of 20 targets
commissions1: number of commission errors made in block1 (responses to non-targets); Note: out of 80 nontargets
errors1: sum of omission and commission errors in block1
hitRT1: mean hit response time (in ms) in block1
(same for block2-block6)
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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(1) Practice: 1 block of 50 trials (max number of practice blocks: 2)
- 10 go-trials (with word 'NO')
- 40 nogo-trials (each of the 20 nogo stim is presented 2 times)
If performance is lower than parameters.minPracticeACC (default: 85% correct) at the end of the final
practice block, the script prematurely terminates.
Participants receive error feedback during practice.
(2) Test: 6 blocks of 100 trials (words) with no break
- each block runs 20 'no' trials (go-stims) and 80 nogo-trials (each of the 20 nogo stim is presented 4 times)
- the word SOA is 1000ms (response window equals SOA) - editable parameter
- Word Sequence:
- this script provides the following 2 options
Option1: the same fixed but randomly-generated sequence of the words is used for each block (see list.stimSequence)
Option2: each block randomly presents a new order of the words
see parameters.randomStimOrder
Trial Sequence:
word1 (1000ms) -> word2 (1000ms) ->....word100 (1000ms)
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STIMULI
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The test contains 21 monosyllabic words taken from Lemos & Feniman (2010) with the exception of the word
'flower' and 'now'. The word 'flower' (two syllables) was replaced with the word 'fall'
and the word 'now' (too close to no) was replaced by the word 'soon' by Millisecond Software.
All soundfiles were played binaurally.
All words were recorded with the English Google Translate Fairy by Millisecond Software and converted
to *wav files in Audacity - can be edited under section 'Editable Stimuli'
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INSTRUCTIONS
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provided by Millisecond Software - can be edited under section 'Editable Instructions'
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EDITABLE CODE
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check below for (relatively) easily editable parameters, stimuli, instructions etc.
Keep in mind that you can use this script as a template and therefore always "mess" with the entire code
to further customize your experiment.
The parameters you can change are:
