Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Created: January 06, 2022
Last Modified: January 12, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements Millisecond's version of the Emotional Memory Task described by Daming et al (2021). The task tests participants' recognition memory of emotionally charged images that they previously rated. This version of the Emotional Memory Task uses mouse/touch input but the task could be easily converted to a keyboard version.
Daming Mo, Xin Li, Shuwen Hu, Pengfei Guo, Shuai Liu, Feng Geng, Xiaomei Cao, Binbin Chen, Hui Zhong (2021) Somatization Symptoms Regulate Emotional Memory Bias in Adolescents With Major Depressive Disorder. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 1-10. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.656198
5 minutes
The Emotional Memory Task consists of 2 phases.
PhaseA is the unintentional learning phase during which participants get familiarized with a selection of positive, negative and neutral images and are asked to rate their valence on a scale of 1-9. Participants are not explicitly told to memorize the images.
PhaseB is the recognition phase during which participants are presented with the 'old' images from phaseA as well as 'new' images they did not see during the rating phase. The images are presented in random order and participants are asked to indicate whether they have seen the images before (yes/no answer).
Daming et al (2021) used a delay of 72 hours in between phaseA and phaseB.
This script provides the option to run only 'PhaseA', only 'PhaseB' or both phases one after the other
separated by a break/delay. Check section Editable Parameters for more information.
By separating PhaseA and PhaseB, longer delays - such as 72hours (see Daming et al, 2021) can
be run using the same script.
•Phase A: presents 45 trials (15 negative, 15 neutral, 15 positive)
Each trial presents the image file for 3000ms (editable parameter) and then presents a visual
rating scale (1-9) for as long as participants need to submit their valence rating of the image.
A brief blank screen is presented before each image.
Phase A presents the unintentional learning phase of the images. Participants are not asked to memorize
the images but simply to rate them.
•Delay/Break: the delay/break period is only run IF parameters.phaseSetting = 3 (see section Editable Parameters)
By default, the script presents a delay trial for 10 minutes. After the delay period is over,
participants can continue with the task by pressing a 'Continue' button.
•Phase B: presents 90 trials
(45 old images from phaseA and 45 new ones; 1/3 of the images are negative; 1/3 are neutral; 1/3 are positive)
Each trial presents the image file for 3000ms (editable parameter) and then presents a
YES and NO button to indicate whether the image was seen during the rating phase.
A brief blank screen is presented before each image.
The images are provided by Millisecond and are taken from the IAPS database.
They are meant for demonstration purposes only.
The images can be easily replaced under section Editable Stimuli.
provided by Millisecond - can be edited under section 'Editable Instructions'.
The provided instructions contain some misdirections in order to minimize attentional learning
of the images during the rating-learning phase.
File Name: emotionalmemorytask_summary*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| inquisit.version | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| computer.touch | 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities |
| computer.hasKeyboard | 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected |
| 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 |
| phaseSetting | 1 = learning phase only 2 = test phase only 3 = learning phase -> break -> test phase |
Phasea: Ratings (If Applicable); Scale: 1-9 |
|
| meanRatingNegative | The mean rating for negative images |
| meanRatingNeutral | The mean rating for neutral images |
| meanRatingPositive | The mean rating for positive images |
Phaseb: Recognition (If Applicable) |
|
| propCorrectOverall | Proportion correctly categorized images as 'new' and 'old' across valence conditions |
| meanCorrRTOverall | Mean response time for correctly categorized images as 'new' and 'old' across valence conditions |
| propCorrectNegative | Proportion correctly categorized images as 'new' and 'old' for 'negative' images |
| meanCorrRTNegative | Mean response time for correctly categorized images as 'new' and 'old' for 'negative' images |
| propCorrectNeutral | Proportion correctly categorized images as 'new' and 'old' for 'neutral' images |
| meanCorrRTNeutral | Mean response time for correctly categorized images as 'new' and 'old' for 'neutral' images |
| propCorrectPositive | Proportion correctly categorized images as 'new' and 'old' for 'positive' images |
| meanCorrRTPositive | Mean response time for correctly categorized images as 'new' and 'old' for 'positive' images |
File Name: emotionalmemorytask_raw*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| build | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| computer.touch | 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities |
| computer.hasKeyboard | 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected |
| date | Date the session was run |
| time | Time the session was run |
| subject | Participant ID |
| group | Group number |
| session | Session number |
| phaseSetting | 1 = learning phase only 2 = test phase only 3 = learning phase -> break -> test phase |
| blockcode | The name the current block (built-in Inquisit variable) |
| blocknum | The number of the current block (built-in Inquisit variable) |
| trialcode | The name of the currently recorded trial (built-in Inquisit variable) |
| trialnum | The number of the currently recorded trial (built-in Inquisit variable) trialnum is a built-in Inquisit variable; it counts all trials run even those that do not store data to the data file. |
| phase | Current phase of the study: "A" (learning/rating) vs. "B" (recognition) |
| trialCount | The trialCounte for the current phase |
| category | Valence of image: "negative" vs. "neutral" vs. "positive" |
| image | The current image filename |
| itemNumber | The itemnumber of the currently presented image |
| presentationPhase | The phase during which the image was first presented: "A" (=old image) vs. "B" (=new image) |
| corrRsp | The correct response |
Custom Dvs |
|
| selectedRsp | The currently given response by participant phaseA: the rating 1-9 phaseB: 'yes' vs. 'no' |
| rt | The response latency of the current response (in ms) phaseA: the time it took to submit the rating; measured from onset of rating scale phaseB: the time it took to select yes or no button |
Built-In Dvs: Note, They Currently Do Not Contain Useful Information For Phasea |
|
| response | The response of participant (scancode of response button) |
| correct | Correctness of response (1 = correct, 0 = error) |
| latency | Response latency (in ms); measured from |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
Design Parameters |
||
| phaseSetting | 1 = learning phase only 2 = test phase only 3 = learning phase -> break/delay -> test phase | 3 |
| useFixedLists | The script provides fixed itemnumber lists to use for phaseA and phaseB images To generate randomized lists for each script run, set parameters.useFixedList = false if parameters.phaseSetting is set to 1 OR 2, you should use the fixed Lists to ensure that familiar and novel images stay that way across learning and recognition session. You can customize the fixed itemnumber lists under section 'Editable Stimuli' | true |
Timing Parameters |
||
| delayDurationMs | The duration (in ms) of the break inbetween phaseA and phaseB IF APPLICABLE default: 10 minutes | 600000 |
| imagePresentationDurationMs | The duration (in ms) that the images are presented during phaseA and phaseB | 3000 |
| iti | The intertrial interval (in ms): blank screen before the next image is presented in phaseA and phaseB | 500 |
Sizing Parameters |
||
| imageHeightPct | The height of the image in relation to the canvas height | 60% |