Random Dot Kinematogram - RDK Demo

Technical Manual

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Millisecond thanks Dr. Aaron Seitz for his generous help with Random Dot Motion Displays!

Created: January 23, 2021

Last Modified: January 27, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script runs a demonstration of random dot motion displays. The random dot displays are presented via an animated html-element that uses the jsPsych framework (Josh de Leeuw, 2008) and the "jspsych-rdk.js" plugin (Rajananda, 2018).

References

Pilly, P.K. & Aaron R. Seitz, A.R (2009) What a difference a parameter makes: A psychophysical comparison of random dot motion algorithms, Vision Research, 49, 1599-1612, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2009.03.019.

Rajananda, S., Lau, H. & Odegaard, B., (2018). A Random-Dot Kinematogram for Web-Based Vision Research. Journal of Open Research Software. 6(1), p.6. DOI: [https://doi.org/10.5334/jors.194] (Note: Millisecond slightly edited the provided "jspsych-rdk.js" plugin code to allow the cross to be moved in the direction of the coherent dots).

References

Rajananda, S., Lau, H. & Odegaard, B., (2018). A Random-Dot Kinematogram for Web-Based Vision Research. Journal of Open Research Software. 6(1), p.6. DOI: [https://doi.org/10.5334/jors.194] ( Millisecond slightly edited the provided "jspsych-rdk.js" plugin code to allow the cross to be moved in the direction of the coherent dots).

Duration

1 minutes

Description

This script runs as many demo trials as needed.

For each trial: - choose the RDK type - aperture type - relative dot size - number of dots (up to 300) - movement coherence (1% to 100%) - 'speed' of coherent dots - movement angle (direction of movement) - duration of rdk movement display

Fixed in this script: The random dot display will be presented with a border and a cross in the center. The cross is rotated in such a way that one arm points in the direction of the movement; the other is orthogonal to it.

Raw Data

File Name: xxxx_raw*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
build Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject Participant ID
group Group number
session Session number
blockCode Name of the current block
blockNum Number of the current block
trialCode Name of the current trial
trialNum Number of the current trial
stimulusItem The presented stimuli in order of trial presentation
response The participant's response
latency The response latency (in ms)
Display
rdkType 1: signal dots always stay signal dots & noise dots are randomly positioned in each frame (no trajectories for random dots)
2: signal signal dots always stay signal dots & noise dots are on random trajectories that change directions randomly in each frame
3: signal signal dots always stay signal dots & noise dots are placed on random trajectories that do not change directions
4: signal dots can turn into noise dots & noise dots are randomly positioned in each frame
5: signal dots can turn into noise dots & noise dots are on random trajectories that change directions randomly in each frame
6: signal dots can turn into noise dots & noise dots are placed on random trajectories that do not change directions
for 4/5/6 it is randomly decided in each frame which dot is a signal dot and which dot is a noise dot.
apertureType 1 = circle
2 = ellipse
3 = square
4 = rectangle
dotRadiusPct The radius of the dots in canvasHeight Pct
numberOfDots The number of dots currently on display
coherence The selected coherence value (percentage of signal dots)
direction The selected motion angle (counterclockwise)
0: movement from E->W
90: movement from S->N
180: movement from W->E
270: movement from N->S
moveDistancePct The selected 'speed' of signal dots
duration The display duration in ms