___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Self-Esteem Conditioning Task* ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Script and stimuli generously shared by Dr. Stephane Dandeneau. Thank you! last updated: 02-28-2022 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BACKGROUND INFO ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This script implements a Self-Esteem Conditioning Task by consistently pairing self-related words with happy facial expressions. The implemented procedure is based on: Baccus J.R., Baldwin M.W., & Packer D.J. (2004). Increasing Implicit Self-Esteem Through Classical Conditioning. Psychological Science, 15(7), 498-502. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TASK DESCRIPTION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Participants see a 2x2 matrix. A word is displayed in one of the 4 cells, belonging either to the 'self' or 'no-self' category. Participants are asked to click on the words as fast as possible. Upon selection of the word, the word is replaced by either a happy, a frowny or a neutral face picture for the duration of 400ms (default). In the Experimental Condition, a word belonging to the 'self' category is always paired with a smile (=> conditioning), whereas a word belonging to the 'no-self' category is either paired with a frown or a neutral expression. In the Control Condition, the pairings for 'self' words as well as 'no-self' words with facial expressions is randomly determined. Participants are assigned to the Experimental vs. Control Condition by groupnumber. Odd groupnumbers -> Experimental Even groupnumbers -> Control ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DURATION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ the default set-up of the script takes appr. 5 minutes to complete ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DATA FILE INFORMATION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The default data stored in the data files are: (1) Raw data file: 'selfesteemconditioning_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, group: with the current subject/groupnumber 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 such as feedback trials. Thus, trialnum may not reflect the number of main trials run per block. condition: 'experimental' vs 'control' stimx stimy: x/y coordinates of the target stimulus stimulusitem: the presented stimuli in order of trial presentation response: the participant's response latency: the response latency (in ms) meanlat_experimental: mean response latency (in ms) in experimental condition (if run) meanlat_control: mean response latency (in ms) in control condition (if run) (2) Summary data file: 'selfesteemconditioning_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) condition: 'experimental' vs 'control' meanlat_experimental: mean response latency (in ms) in experimental condition (if run) meanlat_control: mean response latency (in ms) in control condition (if run) avgspeed: mean response latency in s ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 groups: experimental vs. control (assignment by groupnumber) Experimental (odd groupnumbers): 240 trials total (order is randomized) - 80 trials: pairings of 'self' words with smiley faces (self words selected with replacement) - 80 trials: pairings of 'no-self' words with frowny faces (no-self words selected with replacement) - 80 trials: pairings of 'no-self' words with neutral faces (no-self words selected with replacement) Note: quadrant position is sampled randomly with replacement Control (even groupnumbers): 240 trials total (order is randomized) - 80 trials: pairings of 'self' with either a smiley, a frowny or a neutral face (self words selected with replacement) - 160 trials: pairings of 'no self' with either a smiley, a frowny or a neutral face (no-self words selected with replacement) Across the 240 trials: facial expressions are selected randomly without replacement (=> 80 trials per facial expression) The face images are presented for 400ms (default) -> change under section Editable Parameters ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIMULI ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ see section Editable Stimuli ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INSTRUCTIONS ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ see section Editable Instructions _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EDITABLE CODE ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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: /picduration: the presentation duration of the face pics in ms (default: 400ms)