___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NUMBER SERIES TASK ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software LLC Date: 11-20-2012 last updated: 02-25-2022 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC Script Copyright © 02-25-2022 Millisecond Software ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BACKGROUND INFO ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This script implements the Number Series Task, a measure of pattern recognition/inductive reasoning and fluid intelligence. The implemented procedure is based on: Redick, T.S., Shipstead, Z., Fried, D.E., Hambrick, D.Z., Kane, M.J. & Engle, R.W. (2012). No Evidence of Intelligence Improvement After Working Memory Training: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 1-21. (http://longevity3.stanford.edu/brainhealth/files/2013/04/Redick-et-al-JEPG.pdf) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TASK DESCRIPTION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Participants work on 5 number series questions within a specified time frame (default: 4.5min). The number series questions are multiple choice with 5 answer choices. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DURATION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ the default set-up of the script takes appr. 5 minutes to complete ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DATA FILE INFORMATION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The default data stored in the data files are: (1) Raw data file: 'numberseries_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 number 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. parameters- taskduration: time alloted to the entire task (default: 270000ms = 4.5min) stimulusitem.1- stimulusitem.3 the presented stimuli in order of trial presentation choice1- choice5: contain the stimuli for the 5 choices correctchoice: contains the index of the correct choice for each target response: the participant's response correct: the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect) latency: the response latency (in ms) numcorrect: sum up all correct responses (2) Summary data file: 'numberseries_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) parameters- taskduration: time alloted to the entire task in ms (default: 270000ms = 4.5min) numcorrect: sum up all correct responses ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The script presents 5 number series trials (block.numberseries) Each trial presents a target number series and 5 answer choices. After participants select their choice via mouse-click, the selection gets briefly highlighted before the next trial starts. There are 5 practice problems before the actual test starts. Timer: There are 4.5 min allotted to finish block.numberseries (default, can be changed under VALUES -> EDITABLE PARAMETERS). A clock on the screen counts down the min/s for the participants. 60s (default, can be changed under VALUES -> EDITABLE PARAMETERS) before the 4.5 min are up, a red circle appears around the clock to highlight the remaining time. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIMULI ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Stimuli can be edited under section Editable STIMULI ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INSTRUCTIONS ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Instructions 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: /taskduration: time alloted to the entire task in ms (default: 270000ms = 4.5min) /timereminder: a red circle appears around the clock at this time to highlight how much time is left in ms (default: 60000ms = 1min left)