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LETTER FLUENCY - with voice recordings
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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 verbal input combined with 'Spacebar' presses for each valid
word (by Test Administrator).
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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Participants are asked to name 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).
Test Administrators should press the Spacebar for each valid word.
Soundfiles are saved for each letter for additional analyses.
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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_voicerecordings_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 (57 = spacebar press)
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
wordcount: estimates word count by counting spacebar presses
(2) Summary data file: 'letterfluency_voicerecordings_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")
wordcount1-
wordcount3: estimates word count by counting spacebar presses
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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)
