Alcohol Dot Probe Task

Technical Manual

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

Millisecond thanks Dr. Fillmore for ample assistance and generously sharing the original stimuli!

Created: January 28, 2015

Last Modified: January 09, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements a dotprobe procedure to measure attentional bias with images. The implemented procedure is based on:

Miller, M.A. & Fillmore, M.T (2010). The effect of image complexity on attentional bias towards alcohol-related images in adult drinkers. Addiction, 105, 883–890.

Note: Due to the fact that no differences were found with complex stimuli, this script only implements the dot probe task with simple pictures.

Duration

4 minutes

Description

After presentation of a fixation cross in the center of the screen, participants are presented with 2 pictures from two categories (here: alcohol and neutral pictures). The position of the pictures is randomly chosen to be either left or right to the location of the fixation cross. After a short duration, the two pictures disappear and a probe stimulus (here: X) appears in the location of one of the pictures. Participants are asked to press one key if the probe is left and another if the probe is right. Attentional Bias Measures (AB) are provided for alcohol and neutral (control) stimuli.

Procedure

2 categories tested (Alcohol: alcohol; Filler: filler); within-design
- 1 block of 10 practice trials
- 1 block of 80 trials: 40 Alcohol trials (alcohol-neutral pairings) and 40 Filler (filler1-filler2 pairings)
10 alcohol/neutral simple pictures, all pictures presented 4 times
=> right/left, followed by prime/not followed by prime => 10 * 4 = 40 trials
- Filler Trials: same for filler trials
all 80 trials are randomly sampled without replacement

DEFAULT TRIAL SEQUENCES
fixation cross (500ms) -> target image pair (1000ms) -> tp_isi (0ms)-> probe (max. 1000ms) (latency measured from onset of probe until response or offset of probe; whichever comes first)

Stimuli

Stimuli were generously shared by Dr. Fillmore and can be easily edited under EDITABLE STIMULI

Instructions

Original Instructions were generously shared by Dr. Fillmore.
They have been slightly edited by Millisecond.
They can be edited under section Editable Instructions.

Summary Data

File Name: alcoholdotprobe_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed
propCorrect Proportion correct overall
meanRT Overall mean latency (in ms)
propCorrectCongruentAlcohol Proportion correct in congruent Alcohol trials
meanrtCongruentAlcohol Mean latency of congruent Alcohol trials
propCorrectIncongruentAlcohol Proportion correct in incongruent Alcohol trials
meanrtIncongruentAlcohol Mean latency of incongruent Alcohol trials
abAlcohol Attentional Bias for Alcohol pics : If AB_Alcohol > 0
=> faster mean latencies to congruent alcohol trials than incongruent ones
propCorrectCongruentFiller Proportion correct in congruent Filler trials
meanrtCongruentFiller Mean latency of congruent Filler trials
propCorrectIncongruentFiller Proportion correct in incongruent Filler trials
meanrtIncongruentFiller Mean latency of incongruent Filler trials
abFiller Attentional Bias for FillerA pics ('targets'): If AB_Filler > 0
=> faster mean latencies to congruent FillerA trials than incongruent ones

Raw Data

File Name: alcoholdotprobe_raw*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
build Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject, group, With the current subject/groupnumber
session Session number
blockCode Name of the current block
blockNum Number of the current block
trialCode Name of the current trial
trialNum Number of the current trial
task 1 = practice; 2 = test
category 1 = Alcohol ; 2 = Filler
congruence 1 = probe and target (e.g. alcohol) position same; 2 = probe and target (e.g. alcohol) position different
targetPosition 1 = target (e.g. alcohol) image on left; 2 = target (e.g. alcohol) image on right
compX-probeX The x-coordinate (in %) of the target (e.g. alcohol)/ comp ('paired with target') /probe stims
itemNumber Itemnumber of currently selected picture
targetImage Stores the currently presented target (e.g. alcohol) image
compImage Stores the currently presented comp ('paired with target') image
response The participant's response (scancode of response button)
49 = N (left key)
50 = M (right key)
latency The response latency in ms (measured from onset of probe)
correct Accuracy of response (regardless of whether latency >= parameters.minimum_latency)
1 = correct; 0 = incorrect
valid Latency in ms that is >= parameters.minimum_latency
validCorrect 1 = response was correct AND latency was >= parameters.minimum_latency; 0 = otherwise

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
readyDuration The duration (in ms) of the get-ready-trial 3000ms
fixationDuration:/targetduration The duration of the fixation cross /the targets (default: 1000ms)500ms
tpIsi Target-probe interstimulus interval in ms 0ms
probeDuration The duration of the probe presentation
by default this scripts allows for responses for the entire probe duration
the trial terminates after parameters.probeduration is over
1000ms
iti Intertrialpause in ms 0ms
probe The symbol used for the probe X
responseKeyLeft The left response button "N"
responseKeyRight The right response button "M"
minimumLatency The minimum latency of a correct response that is included into summary variables
(default: 100ms)
Physical Settings Of Display: Change The Settings To Optimize The Display On Your Computer Screen
targetLeftX-targetRight The x-coordinate in % of the right/left target 27%, 73%
targetY The y-coordinate of the target center at 50%
fixationCrossHeight The height of the fixation cross in canvas height percentage 5%
probeHeight The height of the probe in canvas height percentage 5%
imageHeight The height of the image in canvas height percentage 40%