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*EVENT-BASED PROSPECTIVE MEMORY TASK*
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Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Date: 10-01-2015
last updated: 01-25-2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 01-25-2023 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements a computerized Event-based Prospective Memory Task similarly
to the non-computerized one described in Cheng et al (2013).
Prospective Memory (event based) = Remembering to do in the case a certain event happens.
Reference:
Cheng, H., Yang, Z., Dong, B., Chen, C., Zhang, M., Huang, Z., Chen, Z & Kai Wang, K. (2013).
Chemotherapy-induced prospective memory impairment in patients with breast cancer.
Psycho-Oncology 22, 2391–2395 (2013)
Published online 15 May 2013 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/pon.3291.
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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Participants are told that they participate in a visual search experiment. They are presented 'cards'
with 12 items randomly presented in a 4x3 matrix; 10 of these items belong to one category and 2 to another
('outsiders'). Participant are asked to select the 2 outsiders by mouse click.
Prospective Memory Task1: Before the start of the task participants are also asked to do an exta click with their mouse
whenever the 2 outsiders are two particular target words (here: "antilope" and "hamster").
Prospective Memory Task2: Additionally they are asked to let the experimenters know whether they consider
themselves to be 'morning' or 'night' people.
For this purpose, a general comment box is provided at the end of the task.
*Note: in Cheng et al (2013)
Prospective Memory Task 1: tap the desk whenever the 2 target words appear
Prospective Memory Task 2: at the end of the experiment, tell your experimenter your phone number
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 5 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: 'prospectivememorytask_versionb_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.
version: "B" (version B runs the morning/night question as Prospective Memory Task 2)
majority: refers to the majority category (1-6)
1 = countries
2 = fruit
3 = cars
4 = flowers
5 = insects
6 = cities
trialtype: 1 = target trial; 2 = foil trial
outsider: refers to the outsider category (1-4; 5 = target category)
1 = metals
2 = clothes
3 = rivers
4 = furniture pieces
5 = mammals (TARGETS)
outsider1-
outsider2: store the 2 randomly assigned outsider (minority) words
response: the participant's response
correct: the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect)
=> foil trials: lbuttondown is correct response; target trials: lbuttondown is correct response
finalCorrect: 0 = did not select any correct outsider;
1 = selected one correct outsider;
2 = selected both correct outsiders
latency: the response latency (in ms)
response1: the first selected item
response2: the second selected item
Hit: stores the number of hits
(=pressing mouse button during intertrial interval after a target trial to indicate the target outsiders)
Miss: stores the number of misses
(=pressing mouse button during intertrial interval after a target trial to indicate the target outsiders)
FA: stores the number of false alarms
(=pressing mouse button during intertrial interval after a non-target trial to indicate the target outsiders)
CR: stores the number of correct rejections
(=pressing mouse button during intertrial interval after a non-target trial to indicate the target outsiders)
prospectiveMemory2Response: stores the reported handedness (-> Prospective Memory Task II)
Note: the computer can only determine if the comment left for experimenter contains the word 'left' or 'right'
=> the responses should be manually checked to make sure, no response that indicates a recall of the handedness task was missed.
finalpoints: number of final target points earned
(number of hits + 2 points for Prospective Memory Task 2)
(2) Summary data file: 'prospectivememorytask_versiona_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)
version: "B" (version B runs the morning/night question as Prospective Memory Task 2)
Hit: stores the number of hits
(=pressing mouse button during intertrial interval after a target trial to indicate the target outsiders)
Miss: stores the number of misses
(=pressing mouse button during intertrial interval after a target trial to indicate the target outsiders)
FA: stores the number of false alarms
(=pressing mouse button during intertrial interval after a non-target trial to indicate the target outsiders)
CR: stores the number of correct rejections
(=pressing mouse button during intertrial interval after a non-target trial to indicate the target outsiders)
Prospective Memory Task 2 Response: stores the reported handedness (-> Prospective Memory Task II)
Note: the computer can only determine if the comment left for experimenter contains the word 'left' or 'right'
=> the responses should be manually checked to make sure, no response that indicates a recall of the handedness task was missed.
prospectiveMemory2Response: number of final target points earned
(number of hits + 2 points for Prospective Memory Task 2)
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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* 1 Test Block of 30 trials (6 main categories x (4 outsider categories + 1 target outsider categories))
* Target Trials: 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th (target trials randomly selected from the 6 possible combinations)
* The remaining 24 trials are randomly selected
* Participants have as much time as needed to find the outliers
Scoring: for each successful mouse-press, participants earned a point. No penalties are given for False Alarms
(but False Alarms are recorded for subsequent data analyses).
Participants earn an additional 2 points for remembering to enter whether they consider themselves to be
"morning" or "night" people
Max: 8 points
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STIMULI
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Stimuli are not original to Cheng et al (2013).
In this script, there are 6 categories of main stimuli and 5 categories of outsider stimuli
(one of them the target stimuli).
Each majority category is presented with each outsider category once (=> 6 x 5 = 30 trials).
The 2 outsider stimuli of a foil category are randomly selected from a group of 6.
The stimuli can easily be edited under section Editable Lists.
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INSTRUCTIONS
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The provided instructions are not original to Cheng et al (2013). They are provided by Millisecond Software and
are easily editable under section 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.
/ITIduration: the duration of the intertrial interval in ms. The intertrial interval is the trial
that records an additional mouse press for Memory Task 1 (default: 2000ms)
