___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Motor Praxis Task (MPT) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC Date: 01-03-2023 last updated: 01-03-2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC Script Copyright © 01-03-2023 Millisecond Software ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BACKGROUND INFO ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This script implements Millisecond Software's version of the Motor Praxis Task (MPT) described by Taylor et al (2019). The Motor Praxis Task tests psychomotor speed and visual tracking. The default version of this script is sized for ipads IF the screen is large enough. If the screen is not large enough, the script attempts to find the biggest 4:3 area of the screen and notes in the data file the dimensions of the presented task. Check section Editable Parameters for more info on this topic. Reference: Taylor, Y., Merat, N., & Jamson, S. (2019). The Effects of Fatigue on Cognitive Performance in Police Officers and Staff During a Forward Rotating Shift Pattern. Safety and Health at Work, 10(1), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2018.08.003 Gur, R. C., Richard, J., Hughett, P., Calkins, M. E., Macy, L., Bilker, W. B., Brensinger, C., & Gur, R. E. (2010). A cognitive neuroscience-based computerized battery for efficient measurement of individual differences: Standardization and initial construct validation. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 187(2), 254–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2009.11.017 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TASK DESCRIPTION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Participants are asked to quickly touch a series of blue dots as they appear on the screen in random locations. The dots continuously get smaller in size on each new trial. This script allows test administrators to set the start and end size of the dots as well as the number of trials to run. Based on these three variables (number of trials, start- and end size), the script calculates the size adjustment rate per trial. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DURATION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ the default set-up of the script takes appr. 2 minutes to complete ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DATA FILE INFORMATION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The default data stored in the data files are: (1) Raw data file: 'motorpraxistest_raw*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant) //Screen Setup: (parameter) runAbsoluteSizes: true (1) = should run absolutely sized canvas (see parameters- canvasHeight_inmm) false (0) = should use proportionally sized canvas (uses width = 43*screenHeight) canvasAdjustments: NA: not applicable => parameters- runAbsoluteSize was set to 'false' 0: parameters- runAbsoluteSize was set to 'true' and screen size was large enough 1: parameters- runAbsoluteSize was set to 'true' BUT screen size was too small and adjustments had to be made activeCanvasHeight_inmm: the width of the active canvas (by default: lightGray area) in mm activeCanvasWidth_inmm: the height of the active canvas in mm display.canvasHeight: the height of the active canvas in pixels display.canvasWidth: the width of the active canvas in pixels px_per_mm: the conversion factor to convert pixel data into mm-results for the current monitor (Note: the higher resolution of the current monitor the more pixels cover the same absolute screen distance) This factor is needed if you want to convert pixel data into absolute mm data or the other way around //built-in Inquisit variables: 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. Note: trial.searchEnd currently stores the summary of a target search. response: the response of participant during current trial latency: response latency (in ms); measured from onset of dot //custom variables: trialCounter: counts the number of trials run x_inpct: horizontal coordinate of the current dot (in %) y_inpct: vertical coordinate of the current dot (in %) stimSize_adjust: the percentage height adjustments done per trial stimHeight_inpct: the height of the current in %of active canvas stimHeight_inmm: the height of the current in mm (2) Summary data file: 'motorpraxistest_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) //Screen Setup: (parameter) runAbsoluteSizes: true (1) = should run absolutely sized canvas (see parameters- canvasHeight_inmm) false (0) = should use proportionally sized canvas (uses width = 43*screenHeight) canvasAdjustments: NA: not applicable => parameters- runAbsoluteSize was set to 'false' 0: parameters- runAbsoluteSize was set to 'true' and screen size was large enough 1: parameters- runAbsoluteSize was set to 'true' BUT screen size was too small and adjustments had to be made activeCanvasHeight_inmm: the width of the active canvas (by default: lightGray area) in mm activeCanvasWidth_inmm: the height of the active canvas in mm display.canvasHeight: the height of the active canvas in pixels display.canvasWidth: the width of the active canvas in pixels px_per_mm: the conversion factor to convert pixel data into mm-results for the current monitor (Note: the higher resolution of the current monitor the more pixels cover the same absolute screen distance) This factor is needed if you want to convert pixel data into absolute mm data or the other way around numberOfTrials: the set number of test trials to run meanRT: the mean response latency (in ms) medianRT: the median response latency (in ms) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Practice: 5 trials (editable parameter) During the practice trials, the dot stays the same size. The Dot appears randomly somewhere on the active canvas. Participants are instructed to touch the dot as fast as possible. If no response occurs within the first 3se, a reminder text stimulus appears on screen. 2. Test: 20 trials (editable parameter) During the test trials, the dot gradually decreases in size (see Editable Parameters for size settings). The Dot appears randomly somewhere on the active canvas. Participants are instructed to touch the dot as fast as possible. No reminder text appears on screen if participants fail to respond. Number of Trials in practice/test blocks as well as their color and size can be adjusted under section Editable Parameters. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIMULI ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ provided by Millisecond Software The color of practice and test dots as well as sizes can be adjusted under section Editable Parameters. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INSTRUCTIONS ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ provided by Millisecond Software - can be edited under section 'Editable Instructions' ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EDITABLE CODE ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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: