User Manual: Inquisit Rapid Visual Information Processing

													 
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										*RAPID VISUAL INFORMATION PROCESSING*
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Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
last updated:  05-16-2024 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC

Script Copyright © 05-16-2024 Millisecond Software

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BACKGROUND INFO 	
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This script implements the Rapid Visual Information Processing Task, a measures of processing speed
and performance.

The implemented procedure is based on:

Wesnes, K. & Wartburton, D.M (1984), Effects of scopolamine and nicotine on human rapid information 
processing performance.  Psychopharmacology, 82, 147-150.

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TASK DESCRIPTION
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A participant is presented with a series of digits (1-9) on a computer screen. The presentation time 
is 100 digits/min (or 1digit/600ms). The participant's task is to press a response key (here: Spacebar) 
as soon as she detects a series of three consecutive odd or three consecutive even digits.

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DURATION 
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 14 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: 'rvip.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.	
																													
focusdigit3:					the three digits that need to be checked to see if they are all odd or all even														
focusdigit2:
focusdigit1 :
digit:							the digit presented in the current trial
btwtargets_counter:				counts the number of digits between target trials

target:							0 = no target presented; 
								1 = target presented (the third digit in a row of either all odd or all even digits)
								Note: while the current digit may not be a target, the trial might still accept
								target responses if the previous target is still active
								
targetstarttime:				the script elapsed time (in ms) the last target was presented 
starttrialtime:					the script elapsed time the current trial started (in ms)

(parameter) target_responsewindow:	the time window during which a target is active (here: up until 1500ms after onset of a target, consistent with Wesnes & Wartburton (1984))
target_responseendtime:			starttrial of a target-trial + interval (in ms)

targetactive:					0 = target not active; 
								1 = target still active (even though the currently presented digit itself might not be a target)
								
response:						the participant's response (e.g. scancode of response key)
								57 = spacebar
								0 = no response
																				
correct:						the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect)

responsetime:					the script elapsed time when a spacebar response is made (in ms)

RT_hit:							the response latency (in ms) for the current Hit; 
								=> calculated as difference between responsetime-targetstarttime
								=> thus measures the time it took to hit spacebar after a target was presented 
								(latency measured from onset of last target) 

latency: 						the trial latency (in ms) (for the current trial)
								Note: measures the response time of hitting the spacebar measured
								from onset of current digit (if no response, this variable stores the trial duration)
										
										
Hit:							1 = spacebar press was registered during the current trial while a target was still active
								0 = no spacebar press was registered during the current trial while a target was still active
								"" (empty): no active target during the current trial
									
FA:								1 = spacebar press was registered during the current trial while no target was active
								0 = no spacebar press was registered during the current trial while no target was active
								"" (empty): the target was still active during the current trial
										
SumTargets:						counts how many targets have been presented
								
SumHit:							counts the number of Hits
SumFA:							counts the number of False Alarms


(2) Summary data file: 'rvip_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)
									
propcorrect:					proportion correct target detection (test)
SumTargets:						counts how many targets have been presented (test)
SumHit:							counts the number of Hits (test)
SumFA:							counts the number of False Alarms (test)
meanRT_hit:						determines the mean hit RT (in ms) - measured from onset of last target digit (test only)
Std_hit:						determines standard deviation of hit RTs (test only)
medianRT_hit:					determines the median hit RT (in ms) - measured from onset of last target digit (test only)

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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP 
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This script provides a testing sequence of 1200 digits with 96 target sequences as well as a practice sequence 
of 20 digits with 2 target sequences. The target sequences (testing) are separated by a minimum of 5 and 
a maximum of 35 digits (Mean = 9.3). Feedback is provided at the end of each block - to remove feedback go to 
section BLOCKS and follow further instructions.

The response is scored as a Hit if the participant reacts within 1500ms (target response window described 
in article, can be changed by  experimenter in this script) of  onset of the last digit of a target sequence. 
Any response that occurs later is scored as a False Alarm. 

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STIMULI
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see section Editable Lists for the currently available stim sequences

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INSTRUCTIONS 
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to edit instructions, go to 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.

The parameters you can change are:

getReadyDuration:				the duration (in ms) of the get-ready-trial (default: 2000ms)

target_responsewindow:			the time window (in ms) during which a target is active 
									(here: up until 1500ms after onset of a target, consistent with Wesnes & Wartburton (1984))
								
presentationtime:				how long (in ms) a stimulus is presented before the next one replaces it (= frequency of showing a stimulus) 
									(here: 100 digits/ 1min => 600ms per stimulus, consistent with Wesnes & Wartburton (1984).)
								
digitheight:						controls the size of the digits (percentage of screen height, default: 5%)

sequencelength_practice:		the length of the practice sequence
									Note: if the number is changed here, list.digitsequence_practice might also need to be updated
									
sequencelength_test:			the length of the test sequence
									Note: if the number is changed here, list.digitsequence might also need to be updated
																		
debugmode:						true (1): the script is run in debugmode (target alerts are presented on screen)
								false (0): the script is run in test mode (default)