___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Road Sign Reaction Time Task ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC Date: 9-14-2017 last updated: 01-19-2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC Script Copyright © 01-19-2023 Millisecond Software ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BACKGROUND INFO ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This script implements a computerized Road Sign Reaction Time Task similarly to the one described in: Edwards J., Ross , L.A., Wadley, V.G., Clay, O.J., Crowe, M., Roenker, D.L., Ball, K.K. (2006). The useful field of view test: Normative data for older adults. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 21, 275–286. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TASK DESCRIPTION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Participants see sets of three or six traffic signs (sets are sampled from four different signs: left arrow, right arrow, bicycle, pedestrian) that are all crossed out by a red cross. After a random delay (1000-6000ms, steps of 1000ms), the cross is removed from one of the signs, and participant has to choose amongst 4 different responses: - left arrow => move the mouse to the left - right arrow => move the mouse to the right - bicycle => press left mouse button - pedestrian => press right mouse button Note: by default, the test is run in a blocked design (N=3 vs. N=6, with N=3 always preceding N=6 block). To run N=3 and N=6 trials in a randomized mixed design, change parameters.runBlockedDesign under section Editable Parameters. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DURATION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ the default set-up of the script takes appr. 7 minutes to complete ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DATA FILE INFORMATION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The default data stored in the data files are: (1) Raw data file: 'roadsigntest_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. (parameter) runBlockedDesign: true (1): the test is split into 2 blocks: first block runs N=3; second block runs N=6 (default) false (0): N=3 and N=6 trials are run in a mixed design N: stores the current set size tested delay: stores the currently randomly sampled target delay in ms (1000-6000ms) target: stores the current target image distractor1- distractor5: store the current distractor images response: the participant's response (recorded mouse response) responseCategory: description of response: "left turn", "right turn", "LM-bicycle" (left mouse button), "RM-pedestrian" (right mouse button) correct: accuracy of response: 1 = correct response made after removal of cross; 0 = otherwise propCorrect_practice1: proportion initially correct responses during practice 1 valid: 1 = valid response 0 = invalid response validrt: valid response time (in ms); measured from onset of unslashed target -> "early response": response was made too early (during practice session 2) latency: the response latency (in ms) of the last measured response; measured from: onset of stims PrematureResponse: number of times participant responded before cross was removed during the current trial (2) Summary data file: 'roadsigntest_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) (parameter) runBlockedDesign: true (1): the test is split into 2 blocks: first block runs N=3; second block runs N=6 (default) false (0): N=3 and N=6 trials are run in a mixed design propCorrect_practice1: the final proportion initially correct responses during practice 1 aborted: 1 = script was aborted after practice 1; 0 = script was not aborted after practice 1 Note: the following summary variables are based on correct responses made after onset of target The script considers all correct responses made after onset of target including those trials where a premature response was also registered propCorrect_overall: proportion correct across all test trials meanRT_overall: mean latency (in ms) of correct responses across all test trials propCorrect_3stims: proportion correct across all test trials with N = 3 meanRT_3stims: mean latency (in ms) of correct responses across all test test trials with N = 3 propCorrect_6stims: proportion correct across all test trials with N = 6 meanRT_6stims: mean latency (in ms) of correct responses across all test test trials with N = 6 sumPrematureResponses: the sum of all premature responses (responses before the cross was removed) sumPrematureResponses_3signs: the sum of all premature responses (responses before the cross was removed) in the 3 sign condition sumPrematureResponses_6signs: the sum of all premature responses (responses before the cross was removed) in the 6 sign condition * separate data files: to change to one data file for all participants (on Inquisit Lab only), go to section "DATA" and follow further instructions ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Note: by default, the test is run in a blocked design (N=3 vs. N=6). To run N=3 and N=6 trials in a randomized mixed design, change parameters.runBlockedDesign under section Editable Parameters. 1. block.mousecheck: This script requires an external mouse. If no external mouse is attached, participants are asked to quit and come back later. 2. Response Practice: - 20 trials that present only 1 sign (5 trials per sign); only correct responses terminate trial - order of signs is randomized - after the first 20 practice trials, the script checks performance: if performance is below a cut-off value (default: 90%, see editable parameters.practice1MinACC),the block is repeated if performance is still below cut-off after the second block (default; see editable parameters.maxPractice1Blocks), the script aborts. 3. Task Practice: - 12 trials that run the test set-up but with only 2 signs and with feedback - each of the four signs is presented as a target 3 times and 3 times as a distractor - order of targets is randomized - signs are randomly assigned to two of 12 possible screen locations - delays (of cross removal) are randomly selected from 1000-6000ms (see list.delays) 4. Test: with N = 3 - 12 trials with sets of 3 signs (no feedback) - each of the four signs is presented 3 times as a target 3 and 6 times as distractors - each non-target sign is presented as a distractor twice with each target and never in the same combination: Example: target left turn presented with: 1: right turn, bicycle 2: right turn, pedestrian 3: pedestrian, bicycle - order of trials is randomized - signs are randomly assigned to three of 12 possible screen locations - delays (of cross removal) are randomly selected from 1000-6000ms (see list.delays) 5. Test: with N = 6 - 12 trials with sets of 6 signs (no feedback) - each target is presented 3 times - !!!Distractor Selection (2 signs in each display have to be repeats): - distractor 1-3: sample from the non-target options (without replacement) - distractor 4-5 (repeated signs): sample from all options (without replacement) => it's randomly determined whether the target sign is one of the 'double' signs. => the frequency of each sign is not controlled for the N=6 trials - order of trials is randomized - signs are randomly assigned to six of 12 possible screen locations - delays (of cross removal) are randomly selected from 1000-6000ms (see list.delays) 6. mixed design block (only run if parameters.runBlockedDesign is turned to false) - 24 trials: 12 with N=3 and 12 with N = 6, randomized order Trial Sequence: fixation cross (until clicked with mouse)-> pretrialpause (default: 1000ms) -> 3 (6) signs appear, all crossed out -> random delay: 1000-6000ms -> one cross is removed: target -> waits for response (Note: responses are collected from onset of stimuli, a valid response terminates the set-up even if the target has been revealed yet. These trials are noted as "premature responses") Screen Location of Signs: - screen locations are randomly sampled from 12 possible screen locations (arranged in a 3 rows x 4 columns matrix) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIMULI ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ provided by Millisecond Software - can be edited under section Editable Stimuli The signs are 4 traffic signs commonly used in the United States but can easily be exchanged. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INSTRUCTIONS ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ provided by Millisecond Software as html files. To edit instructions, edit the html files directly. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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: /runBlockedDesign: true (1): the test is split into 2 blocks: first block runs N=3; second block runs N=6 (default) false (0): N=3 and N=6 trials are run in a mixed design /minHorizontalChange_px: any horizontal mouse movements (in pixels) smaller than this value is ignored and not processed as a response (default: 100 pixels). /picSize: the proportional size of the images (default: 20%) Note: if picSize is increased list.xcoordinates/list.ycoordinates need to be updated accordingly /maxPractice1Blocks: the maximum number of response practice blocks run if performance is too low (default: 2) /practice1MinACC: the minimum proportion correct that terminates practice 1 (response practice) /pretrialpause: the pause (in ms) after pressing the fixation cross and presentation of signs (default: 1000ms) /responseReminder: during practice (response learning) a response reminder is presented after this duration (in ms) (default: 5000ms))