Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Created: January 06, 2022
Last Modified: January 09, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements Millisecond's version of the NASA developed 'Tracing Task', a measure of manual dexterity.
The NASA developed tasks can be downloaded as a free app from the Apple App Store.
Note the script runs with proportional sizing by default. Researchers can select to run the task with an absolute screen size to ensure that distances stay the same across devices. See section Defaults for more info.
Disclaimer: the NASA ipad App data/implementation may differ from the one collected by the Inquisit script.
Bettina L. Beard (2020). The Cognition and Fine Motor Skills Test Batteries: Normative Data and Interdependencies Technical Memorandum (TM) 20205008023. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20205008023 Public Access
7 - 8 minutes
Participants are asked to trace the outlines of circle and squares, starting from a dedicated 'start' position. They trace along the outline in the direction indicated by an arrow.
By default, this script runs 4 different conditions with 1 repetition per condition:
2 tracing stimuli (circle, square) x 2 directions (clockwise vs. counterClockwise) x 1 reps
The order of the resulting 4 conditions is selected at random.
Each condition runs 3 blocks of 5 trials each (12 blocks total), followed by a self-paced break.
By default, participants receive optional performance feedback at script conclusion.
Check section 'Editable Parameters' for parameters that control
- tracing stimuli (circle/square) conditions to run
- rotation (clockwise, counterClockwise) conditions to run
- block/trial/repetition numbers
- performance feedback settings
- automated task demo
provided by Millisecond - can be edited under section 'Editable Stimuli'
provided by Millisecond - can be edited under section 'Editable Instructions'.
The instructions are based on Beard (2020, p.58 - Appendix D)
File Name: tracingtaskSummary*.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 |
Parameters |
|
| tracingMechanism | "finger" vs. "stylus" |
| tracingHand | "dominant" vs. "nondominant" vs. "left" vs. "right" |
| runTracingCircle, | True (1) or false (0) |
| runTracingSquare | True (1) or false (0) |
| runClockwise | True (1) of false (0) |
| runCounterClockwise | True (1) of false (0) |
| repetitionsPerCondition | Number of repetitions per condition |
Display Information |
|
| display.canvasHeight | The height of the active canvas ('canvas') in pixels |
| display.canvasWidth | The width of the active canvas ('canvas') in pixels |
| pxPerMM | The conversion factor to convert pixel data into mm-results for the current monitor ( 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 |
Latency Data |
|
| medianRTCircle | Median tracing RT (in ms) for circle condition trials (across clockwise and counterClockwise direction) |
| zRTCircle | Z-score of medianRTCircle using norming data from Beard (2020, p.22) for finger/stylus (depends on parameters.TracingMechanism) see Beard (2020, Appendix F, p.67/68) for a complete overview of their results Norming sample described in Beard (2020, p.8) Keep in mind: The norming sample may not be the appropriate comparison group for your participants and/or study design |
| pRTCircle | Percentile of zRTCircle !The norming sample may not be the appropriate comparison group for your participants and/or study design! |
| medianRTSquare | Median RT (in ms) for square condition trials (across clockwise and counterClockwise direction) |
| zRTSquare | Z-score of medianRTSquare using norming data from Beard (2020, p.22) for finger/stylus (depends on parameters.TracingMechanism) see Beard (2020, Appendix F, p.67/68) for a complete overview of their results Norming sample described in Beard (2020, p.8) Keep in mind: The norming sample may not be the appropriate comparison group for your participants and/or study design |
| pRTSquare | Percentile of zRTSquare !The norming sample may not be the appropriate comparison group for your participants and/or study design! |
By Direction |
|
| medianRTCircleC | Median RT (in ms) in clockwise, circle condition median tracing RT = median time (in ms) it took for participant to successfully complete a trial |
| medianRTCircleCc | Median RT (in ms) in counterClockwise, circle condition |
| medianRTSquareC | Median RT (in ms) in clockwise, square condition |
| medianRTSquareCc | Median RT (in ms) in counterClockwise, square condition |
Pixel Error Data |
|
| medianPixelErrorCircle | Median pixel errors in circle condition (across clockwise and counterClockwise direction) |
| medianPixelErrorSquare | Median pixel errors in square condition (across clockwise and counterClockwise direction) |
By Direction |
|
| medianPixelErrorCircleC | Median pixel errors in clockwise, circle condition |
| medianPixelErrorCircleCc | Median pixel errors in counterClockwise, circle condition |
| medianPixelErrorSquareC | Median pixel errors in clockwise, square condition |
| medianPixelErrorSquareCc | Median pixel errors in counterClockwise, square condition |
File Name: tracingtask_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 |
Parameters |
|
| tracingMechanism | "finger" vs. "stylus" |
| tracingHand | "dominant" vs. "nondominant" vs. "left" vs. "right" |
| runTracingCircle, | True (1) or false (0) |
| runTracingSquare | True (1) or false (0) |
| runClockwise | True (1) of false (0) |
| runCounterClockwise | True (1) of false (0) |
| repetitionsPerCondition | Number of repetitions per condition |
Display Information |
|
| display.canvasHeight | The height of the active canvas ('canvas') in pixels |
| display.canvasWidth | The width of the active canvas ('canvas') in pixels |
| pxPerMM | The conversion factor to convert pixel data into mm-results for the current monitor ( 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 |
| canvasHeightMM | The width of the active canvas in mm |
| canvasWidthMM | The height of the active canvas in mm |
| tracingCircleDiameterMM | The diameter of the tracing circle in mm |
| tracingSquareHeightMM | The diameter of the tracing square in mm |
| trackWidthMM | The width of the tracks around the stimulus in mm (the area that is considered 'on track') |
Raw Data: Trial By Trial |
|
| 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. |
| conditionCounter | Counts the number of conditions run |
| blockCounter | Counts the number of blocks run per condition |
| currentCondition | 1 = diameter1, clockwise; 2 = diameter1, counterClockwise 3 = diameter2, clockwise; 4 = diameter2, counterClockwise |
| conditionRepetition | Number of times the current condition has been presented |
| direction | 1 = clockwise; 2 = counterClockwise |
| tracingStimCondition | 1 = circle; 2 = square |
| trialCounter | Trial counter per block |
| respStatus | "down": the finger/stylus touched the target/start circle "move": finger/stylus is moving on screen "up-miss": finger/stylus was lifted off screen but has not reached the target circle "up-good": finger/stylus was correctly lifted of the target circle |
| onTrack | 1 = the current mouse coordinates are on the track around the circle/square |
| errorPX | For coordinates 'onTrack' -> 0 if not on track: the number of pixels that finger/stylus is currently away from track negative values: the finger/stylus went inside the tracing stimulus ('inside error') positive values: the finger/stylus went outside the tracing stimulus ('outside error') CIRCLE condition 'inside error': the (negative) pixel difference btw. inner track radius (in px) and distance from mouse coordinates to circle center 'outside error': the (positive) pixel difference btw. outer track radius (in px) and distance from mouse coordinates to circle center => see expressions.TracingCircleErrorPX SQUARE condition 'inside error': script returns the minimum of 4 possible distances to the inner track ( 'benefit of a doubt' coding) 1. vertical distance to top inner track 2. vertical distance to bottom inner track 3. horizontal distance to left inner track 4. horizontal distance to right inner track 'outside error': script determines in which of 8 possible locations (relative to the tracing square) the coordinates fall into 1. directly above: returns the difference in y coordinates of the outer track and the mouse coordinates 2. directly below: returns the difference in y coordinates of the outer track and the mouse coordinates 3. directly left: returns the difference in x coordinates of the outer track and the mouse coordinates 4. directly left: returns the difference in x coordinates of the outer track and the mouse coordinates the remaining locations return the distance of the mouse coordinates to the nearest corner of the outer track => see expressions.TracingSquareErrorPX |
| errorXPX | The horizontal x mouse/finger coordinate at time of error |
| errorYPX | The vertical y mouse/finger coordinate at time of error |
| meanTrialErrorPX | The mean of all 'errorPX' values across the trial (measure only is based on absolute values => of interest is the absolute distance) in the current trial calculated at the end of each trial |
| onTargetZone | 1 = mouse/finger coordinates are currently on the Target Zone; 0 = otherwise |
| leftTargetZone | 1 = mouse/finger coordinates have moved on from initial touchdown on Target Zone; 0 = otherwise |
| reachedTargetZone | 1 = mouse/finger coordinates have reached Target Zone again after once leaving it; 0 = otherwise |
| success | 1 = the mouse/finger coordinates have left Target Zone and have reached Target Zone during the trial at time of finger lift-off 0 = otherwise |
Latency |
|
| tracingRT | The time (in ms) it took from down response to up response (successful or not) |
Coordinate Measures |
|
| mouse.x | The x coordinate of the finger at the time of the currently measured response |
| mouse.y | The y coordinate of the finger at the time of the currently measured response |
| targetZoneCenterXPX | The horizontal x-pixel position of the target/start circle |
| targetZoneCenterYPX | The vertical y-pixel position of the target/start circle |
| targetZoneDiameterPX | The pixel diameter of the target/start circle |
Inquisit Built-In Variables |
|
| response | The response of participant Example 'mousemove' => mouse coordinate change was noted 'lButtonUp' => lift-up response or the name of the stimulus that was touched |
| correct | Correctness of response Example: trial.tracingCircleTracingEnd 1 = participant lifts finger off the screen when values.success = 1 0 = any other response |
| latency | Continuous trial latency (in ms); measured from: onset trial until lift-off response |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
Design |
||
| runTracingSquare | True = run Square Condition; false = skip Square Condition | true |
| runTracingCircle | True = run Circle Condition; false = skip Circle Condition | true |
| runClockwise | True = run the task with clockwise rotations false = skip the clockwise rotation trials | true |
| runCounterClockwise | True = run the task with counter-clockwise rotations false = skip the clockwise counter-rotation trials | true |
| numberOfBlocksPerCondition | Number of blocks per condition; Example for a condition: 'tracingCircle, clockwise' | 3 |
| trialsPerBlock | Number of trials per block | 5 |
| repetitionsPerCondition | The number of repetitions for each condition in this script: conditions repeat once they have all run Example for a condition: 'tracingCircle, clockwise' | 1 |
| tracingMechanism | Choose from: "finger" vs. "stylus" if "finger", the index finger is assumed | "finger" |
| tracingHand | Choose from: "dominant", "non-dominant", "left", "right" | "dominant" |
| skipPerformanceFeedback | True: participants won't receive any performance feedback at the end false: participants will receive performance feedback at the end | false |
| runDemo | True: the script runs an demonstration of the task false: the script skips the demonstration (e.g. if task administrator wants to demonstrate themselves) | true |
Color Parameters |
||
| canvasColor | Display color of the actively used portion of the screen (the 'canvas') if set to a color other than the screenColor, you can distinguish the active canvas from the inactive portion of the screen | lightGray |
| screenColor | Color of the screen not used by the canvas ('inactive screen') | lightGray |
| defaultTextColor | Default color of text items | black |
Sizing Parameters |
||
| tracingCircleDiameterPct | The diameter of the circle in canvas height percentage | 65% |
| tracingSquareHeightPct | The height of the TracingSquare in canvas height percentage | 65% |
| trackWidthPct | The width of the tracing track in canvas height percentage | 1% |
| tracingLineWidthPct | The width of the tracing line (drawn by participant) in canvas height percentage | 0.5% |
| targetZoneDiameterPct | The diameter of the target (also start) zone in canvas height percentage | 15% |