Return to the Auditory Stroop Task (Gender) page
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*AUDITORY STROOP (Gender)*
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Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Date: 11-10-2014
last updated: 11-04-2019 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 11-04-2019 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script runs a Gender Auditory Stroop Procedure.
The classic Stroop paradigm, using visual stimuli, demonstrates the interference of word meaning on naming
the color in which the words are written as measured by reaction time/accuracy differences to
color-meaning congruent and color-meaning incongruent combinations.
The Gender Auditory Stroop Procedure tests the interference effect using auditory congruent and incongruent
stimuli combinations.
The implemented procedure is based on:
Green, E.J. & Barber, P.J. (1981). An auditory Stroop effect with judgments of speaker gender.
Perception &Psychophysics, 30, 459-466.
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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Participants hear words spoken in a female or male voice and have to sort them according to speaker gender.
Some words are stroop words ("man" vs. "girl") -words that have a relation to gender- some are control words
("mill" vs. "game") - words that have no relation to gender.
Control and stroop words are tested either in a mixed or in a blocked design depending on selected groupnumber:
Groupnumber1: runs mixed design with female on the left response key and male category on the right response key
Groupnumber2: runs blocked design with female on the left response key and male category on the right response key
Groupnumber3: runs mixed design with female on the right response key and male category on the left response key
Groupnumber4: runs blocked design with female on the right response key and male category on the left response key
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 8 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: 'auditorystroop_Gender_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
script.sessionid: 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.
values.presentation: "mixed" vs. "blocked"
values.condition: "Stroop" vs. "Control"
values.gender: "male" vs. "female" recording voice
values.congruency: "congruent" vs. "incongurent" (for control words this distinction is pseudo-congruency)
stimulusitem: the presented stimuli in order of trial presentation
response: the participant's response (scancode of response button)
30 = left
38 = right
0 = no response
values.responseCategory: the interpreted key response:
"female"
"male"
"no response"
correct: the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect)
latency: the response latency (in ms); measured from onset of spoken word
(2) Summary data file: 'auditorystroop_Gender_summary*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
script.startdate: date script was run
script.starttime: time script was started
script.subjectid: assigned subject id number
script.groupid: assigned group id number
script.sessionid: assigned session id number
script.elapsedtime: time it took to run script (in ms); measured from onset to offset of script
script.completed: 0 = script was not completed (prematurely aborted);
1 = script was completed (all conditions run)
values.presentation: "mixed" vs. "blocked"
Note: the distinction btw. congruent and incongruent control trials is arbitrary
as the words spoken have no female-male affiliation
list.ACC_cStroop.itemcount: counts congruent Stroop trials
list.ACC_icStroop.itemcount: counts incongruent Stroop trials
list.ACC_cCtrl.itemcount: counts congruent Control trials
list.ACC_icCtrl.itemcount: counts incongruent Control trials
expressions.propcorrect_congruentstroop: proportion correct congruent Stroop trials
expressions.propcorrect_incongruentstroop: proportion correct incongruent Stroop trials
expressions.propcorrect_congruentcontrol: proportion correct congruent Control trials
expressions.propcorrect_incongruentcontrol: proportion correct incongruent Control trials
expressions.meanrt_congruentstroop: mean latency (in ms) for correct congruent Stroop trials
expressions.meanrt_incongruentstroop: mean latency (in ms) for correct incongruent Stroop trials
expressions.meanrt_congruentcontrol: mean latency (in ms) for correct congruent Control trials
expressions.meanrt_incongruentcontrol: mean latency (in ms) for correct incongruent Control trials
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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within-participant: Stroop (gender-related) vs. Control (gender non-related) words
between-participant: mixed vs blocked presentation of stroop and control words (selected by groupnumber: odd -> mixed; even -> blocked)
blocked: block.controlwords; block.stroopwords => each run the 4 stimuli x 6 repetitions (for a total of 2 x 24 = 48 trials)
Note: the order of the blocks is randomly determined
mixed: block.genderstroop (run twice) => each run 8 stimuli x 3 repetitions (for a total of 2 x 24 = 48 trials)
Responsekeyassignments are counterbalanced by groupnumber (more info under section EXPERIMENT):
Groupnumber1: runs mixed design with female on the left response key and male category on the right response key
Groupnumber2: runs blocked design with female on the left response key and male category on the right response key
Groupnumber3: runs mixed design with female on the right response key and male category on the left response key
Groupnumber4: runs blocked design with female on the right response key and male category on the left response key
Practice:
- Blocked: each test block is preceded by an 8-trial practice session (each word is presented twice)
- Mixed: one practice block of 16 trials before the test blocks
Trials:
each trial lasts 5s (soa = 5s btw onset of consecutive stimuli);
speed can be adjusted under Editable Parameters
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STIMULI
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Stroop Words: Man, Girl
Control Words: Mill, Game
Recordings are provided by Millisecond Software and were done by a single male and a
single female voice in Audacity (native speakers of American English)
The sound files can be exchanged under section Editable Stimuli
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INSTRUCTIONS
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Instructions are not original. They are provided by Millisecond Software and can be
edited under 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:
/responsekey_left: scancode of the left response key
Note: scancodes under Tools -> Keyboard Scancodes (default: 30)
/responsekeyleft_label: label of the left response key (default: A)
/responsekey_right: scancode of the right response key
Note: scancodes under Tools -> Keyboard Scancodes (default: 38)
/responsekeyright_label: label of the right response key (default: L)
/soa: stimulus onset asynchrony: time between onset of one stimulus and the onset of the next
in ms (default: 5000) -> every 5 s a new word is spoken.
/getReadyDuration: the duration (in ms) of the get-ready-trial (default: 5000ms)