Competitive Reaction Time Task - Intensity

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Created: January 14, 2013

Last Modified: January 11, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements a version of the Competitive Reaction Time Task which is based on the Taylor Competitive Reaction Time task (Taylor, 1967). The current script incorporates features from the following studies:

Bushman, B. J. (1995). Moderating role of trait aggressiveness in the effects of violent media on aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 950-960.

Anderson, C.A. & Dill, K.E. (2000). Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 772-790.

Denson, T.F., von Hippel, W., Richard I. Kemp, R.I. & Teo, L.S. (2010). Glucose consumption decreases impulsive aggression in response to provocation in aggressive individuals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 1023–1028.

Duration

10 minutes

Description

Participants are told that they play a game with a second player (in reality the co-player is the computer). The goal is to be faster to press the mouse button if a target square turns from yellow to red. The 'loser' has to endure a blast of white noise. Before the participant gets to play, she is asked to select the intensity of the blast to be delivered to co-player (0-10). The duration of the blast is held constant in this script.

Script: CompetitiveReactionTimeTask.iqjs offers the possibility to set both intensity and duration Script: CompetitiveReactionTimeTask_Duration offers the possibility to set duration of blast with a constant intensity

Procedure

• 25 rounds/trials, stage 0 = trial 1; stage 1 = trial 2 - trial 9; stage 2 = trial 10 - 17; stage 3 = trial 18 - trial 25
• by default different editable values and lists govern the intensity the computer chooses for those different stages;
-> change values under EDITABLE CODE -> Editable Values
-> change lists under EDITABLE CODE -> Editable Lists

(A) TRIAL SET-UP
25 trials = 25 trial sequences; each trial sequence consists of 8 steps

1. trial.start
presents the UI of the game; lasts for a random amount of time (EDITABLE CODE -> Editable Lists)
2. trial.intensity
let's participants set the intensity of the blast
3. trial.ready
let's participants select the ready-button
4. trial.target_wait
target sits there being green for a random amount of time (EDITABLE CODE -> Editable Lists),
presumably because participants have to be both ready before the yellow square should be presented.
'Ready' button turns purple.
5. trial.target_yellow
target box turns yellow for a random amount of time (EDITABE CODE -> Editable Lists) = warning signal
6. trial.target_red
target box turns red; waits for participant's mouse click/touch; waits a random amount of time to reveal the
outcome (EDITABLE CODE -> Editable Lists) to pretend the computer has to wait for 2 responses
7. trial.outcome
reveals who won, delivers the blast (if participant lost), lasts as long as set parameters.blastdurationMS;
reveals the setting the co-players have chosen under certain circumstances
8. trial.end
continues to show the setting the co-player chose until the settings have been displayed for a set amount of time
(EDITABLE CODE -> Editable Values)

(B) INTENSITY SETTINGS
1) Intensity is set by selecting a level 0-10 of an Intensity Meter. Once the intensity is selected, the meter
turns gray including the selected level. Exception: if intensity = 0 is selected, the 0 level turns yellow
instead of gray to highlight the non-aggressive choice
2) Once selected, no changes can be made
3) The audio file that delivers the blast in this script was created in Audacity: White noise with Amplitude 1, 2s long
!!!The audio file can easily be replaced under EDITABLE CODE -> Editable Stimuli
4) the volume of the audio file is adjusted in Inquisit

Instructions

Instructions are provided by Millisecond. They are not original to any of the studies.
See crrt_instructions.iqjs

Scoring

This script computes blastintensity and duration separately (as well as overall) for
- stage 0 (first trial; Denson et al (2010) used first trial aggression as main DV)
- stage 1 (trial 2-9)
- stage 2 (trial 10-17)
- stage 3 (trial 18-25)

Summary Data

File Name: CompetitiveReactionTimeTask_Intensity_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

Raw Data

File Name: competitivereactiontimetask_intensity_raw*.iqdat

Data Fields

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.