Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Created: January 04, 2018
Last Modified: January 12, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements a Simple Auditory Reaction Time Task loosely based on:
Fry, D.B. (1975). Simple Reaction-Times to Speech and Non-Speech Stimuli. Cortex, 11, 355-360.
Note: the original study was conducted with tape recorders. This script adapts the original procedure to the computer. Voice responses are omitted in this script.
5 minutes
Participants hear two different sounds and are asked to respond to the sounds by pressing the spacebar
By default, the sounds are tested in a mixed design (can be changed to a blocked design under section Editable Parameters)
Default Design: 2 different sounds are tested in a within participant,mixed design:
(can be changed to a blocked design; see section Editable Parameters)
Mixed Design Option:
10+ Practice Trials:
- minimum of 5 practice trials per sound
- sound order is randomly determined
50 + Test Trials
- minimum of 25 test trials per sound (If parameters.repeatEarlyResponseTrials is set to 'true' then the 'early response'
trials get repeated at the end of the block and thus there will be 25 valid test trials per sound at script conclusion)
- sound order is randomly determined
Blocked Design Option:
Per block:
10+ Practice Trials:
- minimum of 10 practice trials (no repeats of incorrect practice trials)
25 + Test Trials
- minimum of 25 test trials (If parameters.repeatEarlyResponseTrials is set to 'true' then the 'early response'
trials get repeated at the end of the block and thus there will be 25 valid test trials per sound at script conclusion)
Sound Delays:
at the beginning of each sound trial, a sound delay is randomly sampled (with replacement) from list.delay
Delays: 2400ms-3700ms with increments of 100ms (change delays under section Editable Lists)
sound file for the letter 'a' from: https://soundbible.com/2009-A-Z-Vocalized.html#A-Z%20Vocalized%20Sound
sound file for telephone ring from: https://free-mobi.org/ringtones/sound-effects/telephone-ring
both sound files were cut to 450ms and their peak amplitude set at 1.0dB by Millisecond
in Audacity.
provided by Millisecond
all text stimuli can be edited under section Editable Instructions
File Name: simpleauditoryreactiontimetask_summary*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| inquisit.version | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| startDate | Date the session was run |
| startTime | Time the session was run |
| subjectId | Participant ID |
| groupId | Group number |
| sessionId | Session number |
| elapsedtime | Time it took to run script (in ms); measured from onset to offset of script |
| completed | 0 = Test was not completed 1 = Test was completed |
| testTrialsTotal | Total number of test trials run (across blocks) |
| countEarlyResponsesTotal | Total number of early responses (across blocks) |
| propEarlyResponsesTotal | Proportion early responses across all test trials Note early responses are excluded from mean/standard deviation calculations. Only responses that were recorded AFTER the onset of the sound stimulus are considered for mean and standard deviation calculations |
| testtrialsSound1 | Calculates number of test trials run in Sound1 condition |
| meanRTSound1 | Mean response latency (in ms) to the sound stimulus in Sound1 condition (here: space bar press to 'a') |
| sdSound1 | Standard deviation of response latencies (in ms) in Sound1 condition |
| countEarlyRespSound1 | Counts all "early responses" (responses BEFORE sound onset) in sound1 condition |
| propEarlyResponsesSound1 | Proportion early responses of all test trials run in Sound1 condition (here: space bar press to 'a') |
| testTrialsSound2 | Calculates number of test trials run in Sound2 condition |
| meanRTSound2 | Mean response latency (in ms) to the sound stimulus in Sound2 condition (here: space bar press to 'telephone ring') |
| sdSound2 | Standard deviation of response latencies (in ms) in Sound2 condition |
| countEarlyRespSound2 | Counts all "early responses" (responses BEFORE sound onset) in Sound2 condition |
| propEarlyResponsesSound2 | Proportion early responses of all test trials run in Sound2 condition (here: space bar press to 'telephone ring') |
File Name: simpleauditoryreactiontimetask_raw*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| countTestBlocks | Counts the number of test blocks run |
| blockTrialCount | Custom variable to count the trials run in a given block |
| countValidBlockResponses | Counts the number of valid responses per block (valid = response started after onset of stim) |
| phase | "practice" vs. "pretest" (the first 5 trials in each test block) vs. "test" |
| sound | 1 = sound1 (here: 'a') 2 = sound2 (here: telephone ring) |
| delay | Stores the randomly selected sound delay (in ms) - relative to onset of trial |
| response | The participant's response (57 = spacebar press) |
| correct | Accuracy of response (1 = correct; 0 = otherwise) |
| latency | The response latency (in ms); measured from: onset of trial (NOT onset of sound), see 'Sound RT' below |
| validResponse | 0 = invalid (should be repeated); 1 = valid |
| trialTimestamp | The script elapsedtime (in ms; measured from script start) of the current trial onset |
| sound.tone.timestamp | The script elapsedtime (in ms; measured from script start) of the last presented sound onset if the tone has not been played yet, the variable contains a randomly selected number |
| rtTimestamp | The elapsedtime of the current response relative to start of script (in ms) calculated as timestamp of trial onset + latency; timestamp of trial is measured from start of script, latency is measured from start of trial |
| rtStimOnset | The elapsed time of the current response relative to onset of sound stim (= RESPONSE TIME TO SOUND; in ms) (when the sound stim timestamp is still the same as the one from the previous trial at time of response, Sound RT = "Early Response" as no new sound has been played yet) calculated as the difference from 'rtTimestamp - timestamp of sound onset' (both are measured from onset of script) |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| readyDuration | The default duration (in ms) of the get-ready trial | 2000ms |
| earlyResponseFeedback | The duration (in ms) of the "Early Response" Feedback | 1000ms |
| repeatEarlyResponseTrials | True (1) = early response trials get immediately repeated (default) => at conclusion of script, there are 30 valid response measures in all 4 blocks false (0) = early response trials do not get repeated | |
| showRtFeedback | True (1) = response time feedback is provided for valid responses (default) false (0) = no response time feedback is provided | |
| rtFeedbackDuration | Duration (in ms) of response time feedback the response time feedback adds additional 500ms to the task for each trial | 500ms |
| mixedDesign | True (default)= the 2 sound stimuli are presented within the same block false = the 2 sound stimuli are tested within a blocked design |