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LETTER FLUENCY
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Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Date: 1-29-2015
last updated: 02-24-2022 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 02-24-2022 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script runs a simple Letter Fluency Test with phonetic categories (letters A, F, S) similar to
the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT).
This test collects written input.
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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Participants are asked to type as many words as they can that begin with letters A, F, S (tested in blocked-design).
They have 2 min for each letter (default).
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 7 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: 'letterfluency_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
session: 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 (built-in Inquisit variable)
Note: trialnum is a built-in Inquisit variable; it counts all trials run; even those
that do not store data to the data file such as feedback trials. Thus, trialnum
may not reflect the number of main trials run per block.
stimulusitem: the presented stimuli in order of trial presentation
response: the participant's response
latency: the response latency (in ms)
targetletter: stores the currently run targetletter
response: stores the string response for a given targetletter
response_nospaces: stores the string response for a given targetletter minus spaces
estimate_wordcount: estimates word count by comparing the length of the response with and without spaces
(2) Summary data file: 'letterfluency_summary*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
inquisit.version: Inquisit version run
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
startDate: date script was run
startTime: time script was started
subjectid: assigned subject id number
groupid: assigned group id number
sessionid: assigned session id number
elapsedTime: time it took to run script (in ms); measured from onset to offset of script
completed: 0 = script was not completed (prematurely aborted);
1 = script was completed (all conditions run)
estimatetotal: sum of the estimated wordcounts for the 3 letters
targetletter1: stores the first targetletter (default: "A") ('first' does not refer to order in which letters were run in)
targetletter2: stores the second targetletter (default: "F")
targetletter3: stores the third targetletter (default: "S")
estimate_wordcount1-
estimate_wordcount3: estimates word count by comparing the length of the response with
and without spaces for a given target letter
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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3 blocks: one block per targetletter
each block has a timelimit of 2min (editable parameter)
Word Count-Estimate: Algorithm
Inquisit attempts to estimate the number of words for each letter by
- replacing all spaces up to 5 with a single space
- replacing all line breaks with a single space
- comparing the response string that contains only single spaces with a response strings that contains no
spaces at all
=> the estimated word count is the differences in string length plus 1
(e.g. "slug snail snake" vs. "slugsnailsnake" => 2 spaces + 1 = 3 words)
Note: the algorithm only provides a rough estimate of the word count (and it does NOT
check whether the words are correct)
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STIMULI
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This script test letters A, F, S because of their frequency in English
Different letters can be substituted under EDITABLE CODE -> Editable Values
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INSTRUCTIONS
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provide by Millisecond Software - instructions can be edited under
EDITABLE CODE -> 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:
/targetletter1: stores the first targetletter (default: "A")
/targetletter2: stores the second targetletter (default: "F")
/targetletter3: stores the third targetletter (default: "S")
/timelimit: stores the number of ms that participants have to come up with the words (default: 120000ms => 2min)
/warningduration: stores the duration in ms of the warning signal to prepare participants to get ready for next round (default: 1000ms)
