Positive/Negative God Association Task - PNG-GNAT

Technical Manual

This script is based on the original Inquisit script of the Positive/Negative God Associations Task (PNG-GNAT) published by:
Steven Pirutinsky (SP2813@columbia.edu), 9/9/2014,
The original Inquisit script can be downloaded from:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10943-016-0303-y#citeas (see Supplementary Material)
=> https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10943-016-0303-y/MediaObjects/10943_2016_303_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
The original script was updated for the Millisecond Script Library by:
Katja Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com).
The updated script includes summary variables (see section DATA OUTPUT DICTIONARY below)

Last Modified: January 07, 2024 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements a God Go-Nogo Association Task (GNAT) using the category 'god' as the target category.

In general, the GNAT procedure uses the Go-Nogo framework of responding to signal and noise stimuli to investigate implicit bias towards a target category. In contrast to reaction time based tests of implicit bias (e.g. Implicit Association Test), the GNAT framework mainly focuses on accuracy data and specifically d prime measures (measures of sensitivity to distinguish signals from noise in signal detection theory) to infer implicit bias.

For example, a positive association of 'God' (the target signal) is suggested if the dprime measure in the condition 'God-Good' (aka both 'God' and good attributes are signals) is greater than the dprime measure in the condition 'God-Bad' (aka both 'God' and bad attributes are signals).

This script implements The Positive/Negative God Associations Task (PNG-GNAT) as described in:

Pirutinsky, S., Carp, S. & Rosmarin, D.H. J Relig Health (2017) 56: 305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0303-y

Adjustments to z-scores as described by: Gregg, A. & Sedikides, C. (2010). Narcissistic Fragility: Rethinking Its Links to Explicit and Implicit Self-esteem, Self and Identity, 9:2, 142-161 (p.148)

Duration

5 minutes

Description

Participants view words that may or may not belong to one of two target categories (e.g. 'God' or 'Positive'). If the word (e.g. 'faith') belongs to either one of the categories, participants are asked to press the spacebar as quickly as possible. If the word (e.g. 'harsh') does not belong to either category, participants are asked to withold any response until the the next trial starts. Participants work through 2 test blocks of 63 test trials. One block is using 'God' and 'Positive' as the target categories; the second block is using 'God' and 'Negative' as the target categories. The order of the two blocks is determined by assigned groupnumber.

Procedure

the correct response for 'go' words is the spacebar press; the correct response for 'nogo' words is simply waiting

1. Practice:
- 3 practice blocks: one practice block each for practicing Positive, Negative, and God 'Go' words (block order is randomly determined)
- Positive: 'go' words are 'positive' words, 'nogo' words are 'negative' words (words from each category are sampled randomly without replacement)
ratio 'go' trials : 'nogo' trials: 1:1
- Negative: 'go' words are 'negative' words, 'nogo' words are 'positive' words (words from each category are sampled randomly without replacement)
ratio 'go' trials : 'nogo' trials: 1:1
- God: 'go' words are 'god' words, 'nogo' words are 'animal' words (words from each category are sampled randomly without replacement)
ratio 'go' trials : 'nogo' trials: 2:1

2. Test:
- 2 test blocks: (1) pairing of God go-trials and Positive go-trials and (2) pairing of God go-trials and Negative go-trials
-> block order is determined by groupnumber:
odd groupnumbers run: God-Negative pairings before God-Positive pairings
even groupnumbers run: God-Positive pairings before God-Negative pairings

(1) Pairing of God and Positive words: go-trials = god words and positive words; nogo-trials = animal words and negative words (words from each category are sampled randomly without replacement)
ratio God-go trials: Animal-nogo trials = 2:1; ratio Positive-go trials: Negative-nogo trials = 1:1

(2) Pairing of God and Negative words: go-trials = god words and negative words; nogo-trials = animal words and positive words (words from each category are sampled randomly without replacement)
ratio God-go trials: Animal-nogo trials = 2:1; ratio Negative-go trials: Positive-nogo trials = 1:1

- each block runs 14 training trials:
(1) Pairing of God and Positive words: 4 god-go trials, 2 animal-nogo trial, 4 positive-go trials, 4 negative-nogo trials
(2) Pairing of God and Negative words: 4 god-go trials, 2 animal-nogo trial, 4 negative-go trials, 4 positive-nogo trials

- each block runs 63 test trials (36 go trials: 27 nogo trials => 4 go trials: 3 nogo trials)
(1) Pairing of God and Positive words: 18 god-go trials, 9 animal-nogo trial, 18 positive-go trials, 18 negative-nogo trials
(2) Pairing of God and Negative words: 18 god-go trials, 9 animal-nogo trial, 18 negative-go trials, 18 positive-nogo trials


Trial Sequence:
Go-Trials:
- go-word is presented for max. 1400ms (default; can be edited under section Editable Parameters)
- Correct Feedback (if spacebar press) is presented for 250ms (to change timings: go to section TRIALS)
- Error Feedback (if no spacebar press) is presented for 450ms (to change timings: go to section TRIALS)
- blank screen presented for 100ms (default; can be edited under section Editable Parameters) btw. trials

NoGo-Trials:
- nogo-word is presented for max. 1000ms (default; can be edited under section Editable Parameters)
- Correct Feedback (if no spacebar press) is presented for 250ms (to change timings: go to section TRIALS)
- Error Feedback (if spacebar press) is presented for 450ms (to change timings: go to section TRIALS)
- blank screen presented for 100ms (default; can be edited under section Editable Parameters) btw. trials

Stimuli

provided by original script by Dr. Steven Pirutinsky
• words are presented in Turquoise on a black background (size can be edited under section Editable Parameters); font: Arial
• category labels are presented in White on a black background (size can be edited under section Editable Parameters); font: Arial

Instructions

main instructions based on the original script by Dr. Steven Pirutinsky.
The main instructions in this script are run by html-pages. To change main instructions, open the html-files
in a simple text editor (e.g. Notepad for Win; TextEdit for Mac) and change instructions in the html documents.

Additional instructions were added to task using text elements. All text element instructions can be
edit under section Editable Instructions.

Summary Data

File Name: png_gnat_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
order 'Negative -> Positive' (god-negative pairing block was run before 'god-positive pairing block) vs.
'Positive -> Negative' (god-positive pairing block was run before 'god-negative pairing block)
--Notes
(1) summary statistics are based on test trials only (63 test trials per test block; all training and practice trials
are excluded) with valid RTs (all RTs >= minValidRT => all RTs >= 300ms)
(2) z-score calculations: adjustments (see Gregg & Sedikides, 2010, p.148)
If the hit rate / FA rate is 0 => 0.005 is used instead (aka 0.005 is added to the hit/FA rate)
If the hit rate / FA rate is 1.0 => 0.995 is used instead (aka 0.005 is subtracted from the hit/FA rate)
testTrialCount Number of test trials run (across blocks)
mInvalidRT Parameter- the minimum response time (in ms) that is considered a valid response (default: 300ms)
( all trials with latencies < 300ms are excluded from reported summary statistics)
propInvalidRTs Proportion invalid RT trials across all test trials
accOverall Overall proportion correct across all test trials with valid RTs
accGodPositive Proportion correct across all test trials with valid RTs in the 'God-Positive' pairing block
accGodNegative Proportion correct across all test trials with valid RTs in the 'God-Negative' pairing block
dPrimeGodPositive Computes d' (parametric measure of discriminability) for God-Positive Pairings (test trials with valid RTs only)
=> Range (in this script)
-5.1516586840152740479 <= dprime <= 5.1516586840152740479 (=perfect performance)
dPrimeGodNegative Computes d' (parametric measure of discriminability) for God-Negative Pairings (test trials with valid RTs only)
=> Range (in this script)
-5.1516586840152740479 <= dprime <= 5.1516586840152740479 (=perfect performance)
dPrimeDiff The difference in dprime btw. 'God-good' and 'Good-bad' (IF noise category are Animals)
=> if d prime for God-Good is larger than for God-Bad (positive difference)
participant more closely associated God with Good than with Bad attributes
=> if d prime for God-Good is smaller than for God-Bad (negative difference)
participant more closely associated God with Bad than with Good attributes
cGodPositive C-criterion in signal detection:The absolute value of c provides an indication of the strength of
the response bias/response style
negative: participant more likely to report that signal (go stims) is present (liberal response style)
may favor faster responding in speed-accuracy trade-off response paradigms
positive: favoring caution (conservative response style)
cGodNegative C-criterion for God-Negative Condition
God-Positive
validGoTrialsGodPositive Number of valid (RT >=minValidRT) Go trials in the 'God-Positive' pairing block
hitRateGodPositive Proportion of Hits in the 'God-Positive' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
a 'hit' is a spacebar press in go-trials
missRateGodPositive Proportion of Misses in the 'God-Positive' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
zHitGodPositive Z-score of hitrate
validNoGoTrialsGodPositive Number of valid (RT >=minValidRT) NoGo trials in the 'God-Positive' pairing block
faRateGodPositive Proportion of False Alarms in the 'God-Positive' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
a 'False Alarm' is a spacebar press in nogo-trials
crRateGodPositive Proportion of correct rejections in the 'God-Positive' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
zFAGodPositive Z-score of False Alarm rate
meanGoRTGodPositive Mean Go ('hit') latency (in ms) in the 'God-Positive' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
sdGoRTGodPositive Standard deviation (in ms) of the hit latencies in the 'God-Positive' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
God-Negative
validGoTrialsGodNegative Number of valid (RT >=minValidRT) Go trials in the 'God-Negative' pairing block
hitRateGodNegative Proportion of Hits in the 'God-Negative' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
a 'hit' is a spacebar press in go-trials
missRateGodNegative Proportion of Misses in the 'God-Negative' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
zHitGodNegative Z-score of hitrate
validNoGoTrialsGodNegative Number of valid (RT >=minValidRT) NoGo trials in the 'God-Negative' pairing block
faRateGodNegative Proportion of False Alarms in the 'God-Negative' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
a 'False Alarm' is a spacebar press in nogo-trials
crRateGodNegative Proportion of correct rejections in the 'God-Negative' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
zFAGodNegative Z-score of False Alarm rate
meanGoRTGodNegative Mean Go ('hit') latency (in ms) in the 'God-Negative' pairing block (valid RT trials only)
sdGoRTGodNegative Standard deviation (in ms) of the hit latencies in the 'God-Negative' pairing block (valid RT trials only)

Raw Data

File Name: png_gnat_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 Participant ID
group Group number
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
order 'Negative - Positive' (god-negative pairing block was run before 'god-positive pairing block) vs.
'Positive - Negative' (god-positive pairing block was run before 'god-negative pairing block)
phase 'practice' vs. 'training' vs. 'test
trialCount TrialCount of the current phase
(practice: 1-12 trials; training: 1-14 trials; test: 1-63 trials)
trialType 1 = go trial (correct response: spacebar)
0 = nogo trial (correct response: no response)
stimulusItem The presented word
stimulusNumber The itemnumber of the presented word
response The participant's response (scancode of response key): 57 = spacebar press; 0 = no response
responseCat 'hit' vs. 'miss' for go-trials; 'FA' (false alarms) vs. 'CR' (correct rejections) for nogo-trials
correct Accuracy of response: 1 = correct response; 0 = otherwise
latency The response latency (in ms); measured from: onset of stimulus
validRT 1 = the latency was greater or equal to parameters.minValidRT (default: 300ms)
0 = the latency was below parameter.minValidRT (default: 300ms)

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
goTimeout Response timeout for go-trials (in ms) 1400ms
noGoTimeout Response timeout for nogo-trials (in ms) 1000ms
iti The inter trial interval (blank screen; in ms) 100ms
mInvalidRT The minimum response time (in ms) that is considered a valid response 300ms
wordSize Proportional sizing (relative canvas height) of the presented words 5%
categoryLabelSize Proportional sizing (relative canvas height) of the category labels 5%