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Cyberball: 3 PLAYERS
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Script Author: Sean Draine, PhD
last updated: 11-08-2019 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 11-08-2019 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements the Cyberball paradigm based on:
Williams, K. D., Cheung, C. K. T., & Choi, W. (2000). CyberOstracism: Effects of being ignored over
the Internet. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 748-762.
Williams, K. D., & Jarvis, B. (2006). Cyberball: A program for use in research on ostracism and interpersonal
acceptance. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 38, 174-180.
see also: http://www1.psych.purdue.edu/~willia55/Announce/cyberball.htm
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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Participant plays ball with 2 other participants (= the computer). It can be predefined with what
probability the computer includes/excludes the participant into the ball game.
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 4 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: '3playercyberball_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
script.sessionid: 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
(Note: not all trials that are run might record data)
Trialcode Explanation:
Examples:
"1to2" => in this trial player 2 (participant) throws the ball AFTER getting it from player 1
"1to3" => in this trial player 3 throws the ball AFTER getting it from player 1 (random selection decides whether player 3 throws to player 1)
player: stores the current player (1, 2, 3)
recipient: stores the recipient of the current ball toss (1, 2, 3)
response: the (participant's) response
latency: the response latency in ms
count_ignore2: counts how often player 2 (participant) was "ignored" before a throw (resets every time
player 2 gets to throw the ball)
(2) Summary data file: '3playercyberball_summary*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
script.startdate: date script was run
script.starttime: time script was started
script.subjectid: assigned subject id number
script.groupid: assigned group id number
script.sessionid: assigned session id number
script.elapsedtime: time it took to run script (in ms); measured from onset to offset of script
script.completed: 0 = script was not completed (prematurely aborted);
1 = script was completed (all conditions run)
parameters.showpictures: true = pictures of players are onscreen (default)
false = no pictures are presented
parameters.showlabels: true = labels of players are onscreen (default)
false = no labels are presented
item.player1.1-
item.player3label.1: images and labels used for the various players
max_trialcount: maximum number of trials (= passes between all players) played
ignore2_streak1: the number of times player 2 (participant) was ignored before player2 (participant) gets to respond for the first time
max_ignore2: the longest streak of ignoring player 2 (participant) in the game that participant experienced
before being able to respond
count_player1throws: counts the number of times that player 1 gets to throw the ball
count_player3throws: counts the number of times that player 3 gets to throw the ball
count_player2throws: counts the number of times that participant gets to throw the ball
meanRT_player2: mean latency (in ms) of participant throw
count_12: counts the number of times that player 1 throws to player 2 (participant)
percent_12: percentage of player 1 throws that play to player 2 (participant)
count_21: counts the number of times that player 2 (participant) throws to player 1
percent_21: percentage of player 2 throws (participant) that play to player 1
meanRT_21: mean latency (in ms) of player 2 (participant) decisions to throw to player 1
count_32: counts the number of times that player 3 throws to player 2 (participant)
percent_32: percentage of player 3 throws that play to player 2 (participant)
count_23: counts the number of times that player 2 (participant) throws to player 3
percent_23: percentage of player 2 throws (participant) that play to player 3
meanRT_23: mean latency (in ms) of player 2 (participant) decisions to throw to player 3
percent_sameplayer: percentage of player 2 (participant) throws when player 2 throws the ball back to the player who threw the ball to participant
Note: random selection -> 1/2 times of all player 2 throws
percent_otherplayer: percentage of player 2 (participant) throws when player 2 throws ball to the player who didn't threw the ball to participant
Note: random selection -> 1/2 times of all player 2 throws
meanRT_sameplayer: mean latency (in ms) of trials in which player2 (participant) throws ball back to the player who threw the ball to participant
meanRT_otherplayer: mean latency (in ms) of trials in which player2 (participant) throws ball to the player who didn't threw the ball to participant
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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* Participant plays ball with 2 other players for 50 trials.
The number of trials can be edited under section EDITABLE PARAMETERS.
* By default, all players are represented by names and pictures.
Names and pictures can be edited under section EDITABLE STIMULI.
To remove names or pictures go to EDITABLE PARAMETERS.
* By default, player 1 throws the ball to participant (= player 2) with a pre-determined probability (default: 25% of the times)
as does Player 3 (default: 25% of the times). The probabilities can be edited under section EDITABLE LISTS.
The player schedules can further be customized to dictate specific/fixed throw sequences for each of the
"computer player". Go to section EDITABLE LISTS for further instructions.
* Decision Times for Player 1 and 3 are controlled by expressions.cyberdecisiontime under
EDITABLE PARAMETERS.
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STIMULI
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picture examples are provided by Millisecond Software. They can easily be edited under section
Editable Stimuli
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INSTRUCTIONS
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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:
/max_trialcount: maximum number of trials (= passes between the players) played
/showpictures: true = pictures of players are onscreen (default)
false = no pictures are presented
/showlabels: true = labels of players are onscreen (default)
false = no labels are presented
NOTE: parameters.showpictures and parameters.showlabels cannot be set to false at the same time.
/ cyberdecisiontime: selects without replacement (noreplace) one of the 4 decision times for players1 and 3