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*Spatial Delayed Response Task (SDRT)*
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Script Author: Dave Nitz (dave@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
last updated: 10-13-2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 10-13-2023 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements the Spatial Delayed Response Task (SDRT) using short
and long delays to test memory of spatial locations
The implemented procedure is based on:
Lyons-Warren, A., Rema, L., & Hershey, T. (2004). Short- and long-term spatial delayed
response performance across the lifespan. Developmental Neuropsychology, 26(3), 661–678.
Note: The Spatial Delayed Response Task (SDRT) requires stimulus sizes, positions as well as subjects'
pointing errors to be measured in millimeters.
This script automatically
a) checks that the current display is big enough to run this task
b) calculates a 'pixel/mm' ratio for the current display and uses that
ratio to size the stimuli accordingly
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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A small dot briefly flashes on the screen in one of 32 screen locations.
The primary task is to recall the position of the dot after a delay period
that introduces a non-memory "distractor" task that interferes with rehearsal:
for different delay periods a series of geometric shapes appear in the center of the screen for one
second each. Participant are asked to press the space bar whenever they see the
diamond shape ("go trial").
After the delay period is over, the mouse cursor appears as a dot and participants are asked move the dot to
the screen position where they remember the small dot to have appeared. Once at the position,
participants are asked to click the mouse*.
In 1/3 of all trials the dot appears in the exact position that the cue appeared in (cue trial).
* in Lyons-Warren et al (2004) participants pointed to the location and the experimenter placed the dot
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 40 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: 'spatialdelayedresponsetask_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.
trialcount Global trial count. Separate counts for practice and test blocks.
trialtype Type of current trial. cue -> cue-present trial ; nocue -> uncued (experimental) trial
delaycondition Delay condition of current trial (5000, 60000 or 120000).
delaycountdown Remaining delay during CPT trials.
picture.cptstim.currentItem:
Response: the participant's response
57 = spacebar press
correct: the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect)
latency: the response latency (in ms)
tstart Start time of pointing phase.
tend End time of pointing phase.
pointlatency Pointing latency (in ms) computed from difference between 'tend' and 'tstart'.
angle Current position of the cue stimulus in degrees around a circle.
Angles proceed clockwise from the 12:00 position in 10 degree
intervals. Exact horizontal and vertical positions are excluded
(0,90,180 and 270 degrees).
cuex x coordinate of cue.
cuey y coordinate of cue.
pointx x coordinate of pointing location.
pointy y coordinate of pointing location.
error_inpx Returns the current pointing error in pixels.
error_inmm Returns the current pointing error in millimeters.
valid Returns whether the current trial was marked 'invalid' or 'valid'
0 -> invalid
1 -> valid
n_cue_total Total count of cue-present trials.
n_cue_valid Number of cue-present trials marked as valid.
sumerror_cue Sum of pointing error (in mm) across all valid cue-present trials.
sserror_cue Squared sum of error across all valid cue-present trials.
merror_cue Mean pointing error (in mm) for cue-present trials.
sderror_cue Standard deviation of pointing error for cue-present trials.
n_5_total Total count of 5sec delay trials.
n_5_valid Number of 5sec delay trials markes as valid.
sumerror_5 Sum of pointing error (in mm) across all valid 5sec delay trials.
sserror_5 Squared sum of error across all valid 5sec delay trials.
merror_5 Mean pointing error (in mm) for 5sec delay trials.
sderror_5 Standard deviation of pointing error for 5sec delay trials.
n_60_total Total count of 60sec delay trials.
n_60_valid Number of 60sec delay trials markes as valid.
sumerror_60 Sum of pointing error (in mm) across all valid 60sec delay trials.
sserror_60 Squared sum of error across all valid 60sec delay trials.
merror_60 Mean pointing error (in mm) for 60sec delay trials.
sderror_60 Standard deviation of pointing error for 60sec delay trials.
n_120_total Total count of 120sec delay trials.
n_120_valid Number of 120sec delay trials markes as valid.
sumerror_120 Sum of pointing error (in mm) across all valid 120sec delay trials.
sserror_120 Squared sum of error across all valid 120sec delay trials.
merror_120 Mean pointing error (in mm) for 120sec delay trials.
sderror_120 Standard deviation of pointing error for 120sec delay trials.
n_cpt_current Number of CPT trials run in the current trial.
cpterrors_current Number of CPT errors in the current trial.
n_cpt_total Total number of CPT trials run. Separate counts for practice and test blocks.
cpterrors_total Total number CPT errors across the whole task. Separate counts for practice and test blocks.
(2) Summary data file: 'spatialdelayedresponsetask_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)
n_cue_total Total count of cue-present trials.
n_cue_valid Number of cue-present trials marked as valid.
sumerror_cue Sum of pointing error (in mm) across all valid cue-present trials.
sserror_cue Squared sum of error across all valid cue-present trials.
merror_cue Mean pointing error (in mm) for cue-present trials.
sderror_cue Standard deviation of pointing error for cue-present trials.
n_5_total Total count of 5sec delay trials.
n_5_valid Number of 5sec delay trials markes as valid.
sumerror_5 Sum of pointing error (in mm) across all valid 5sec delay trials.
sserror_5 Squared sum of error across all valid 5sec delay trials.
merror_5 Mean pointing error (in mm) for 5sec delay trials.
sderror_5 Standard deviation of pointing error for 5sec delay trials.
n_60_total Total count of 60sec delay trials.
n_60_valid Number of 60sec delay trials markes as valid.
sumerror_60 Sum of pointing error (in mm) across all valid 60sec delay trials.
sserror_60 Squared sum of error across all valid 60sec delay trials.
merror_60 Mean pointing error (in mm) for 60sec delay trials.
sderror_60 Standard deviation of pointing error for 60sec delay trials.
n_120_total Total count of 120sec delay trials.
n_120_valid Number of 120sec delay trials markes as valid.
sumerror_120 Sum of pointing error (in mm) across all valid 120sec delay trials.
sserror_120 Squared sum of error across all valid 120sec delay trials.
merror_120 Mean pointing error (in mm) for 120sec delay trials.
sderror_120 Standard deviation of pointing error for 120sec delay trials.
n_cpt_current Number of CPT trials run in the current trial.
cpterrors_current Number of CPT errors in the current trial.
n_cpt_total Total number of CPT trials run. Separate counts for practice and test blocks.
cpterrors_total Total number CPT errors across the whole task. Separate counts for practice and test blocks.
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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3 blocks:
1. Screen calibration to size the stimuli for the current monitor
2. Practice: 4 practice trials (default)
3. Test:
* 24 nocue trials (cursor dot appears by itself)
* 8 nocue trials present the memory test (pointing trial) after a delay (CPT task) of 5000ms
* 8 nocue trials present the memory test (pointing trial) after a delay (CPT task) of 60000ms
* 8 nocue trials present the memory test (pointing trial) after a delay (CPT task) of 120000ms
* 8 cue trials (together with the cursor dot, the original dot appears in the exact position that it appeared in before)
* all 8 cue trials present the memory test (pointing trial) after a delay (CPT task) of 5000ms
* CPT task: stimuli are selected randomly with replacement for the duration of the selected memory delay
Note: The Spatial Delayed Response Task (SDRT) requires stimulus sizes, positions as well as subjects'
pointing errors to be measured in millimeters.
This script automatically
a) checks that the current display is big enough to run this task
b) calculates a 'pixel/mm' ratio for the current display and uses that
ratio to size the stimuli accordingly
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STIMULI
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see section Editable Stimuli
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INSTRUCTIONS
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Instructions are not original to the task. They are provided by Millisecond Software
as htm/html pages and simple page elements and can be edited either by changing
the provided htm/html files or directly under Editable Instructions.
To edit htm/html-files: open the respective documents in simple Text Editors such as TextEdit (Mac)
or Notepad (Windows).
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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:
Absolute Stimulus Sizing:
cuesize_inmm Size of the cue stimulus in millimeters. This value is converted to
pixel dimensions.
Default is 6.5mm.
Note: Lyons-Warren et al (2004) used 10mm
stimsize_inmm Size of the CPT stimuli in millimeters. This value is converted to
pixel dimensions.
Default is 20mm.
radius_inmm Circle's radius (where cue can be located) in millimeters.
This value is converted to pixel dimensions
Default is 60mm.
Note: Lyons-Warren et al (2004) possibly used 95mm (the article states 950mm which looks like a printing error)
Duration Parameters:
dur_precue_min Minimum duration of precue delay.
dur_precue_max Maximum duration of precue delay.
dur_cue Cue presentation duration in milliseconds. Default is 150.
dur_cpt Duration of stimulus exposure in CPT trials. Default is 1000.
dur_iti Duration of the inter-trial-interval (ITI). Default is 1000.
Other Task Parameters:
npracticetrials Number of trials to absolve during practice. Default is 4.
skippractice Pseudo-boolean switch to en- or disable the practice block.
0 -> run practice block
1 -> skip practice block
skiptest Pseudo-boolean switch to en- or disable the test block.
0 -> run test block
1 -> skip test block
