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UNSOLVABLE ANAGRAMS
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Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Date: 03-18-2016
last updated: 03-13-2020 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 03-13-2020 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements the a task of unsolvable anagrams based on
Feather, NT & Simon, JG (1971). Attribution of responsibility and valence of outcome in relation
to initial confidence and success and failure of self and other. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 18, 173-188.
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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Participants are asked to solve anagrams. The difficulty of the practice as well as test items
is manipulated.
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes max. 15 minutes
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DATA FILE INFORMATION
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The default data stored in the data files are:
(1) Raw data file: 'unsolvableanagrams_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.practiceDifficulty: 1 = easy practice;
2 = difficult practice
values.testDifficulty: 1 = easy test;
2 = difficult test
stimulusitem: the presented stimuli in order of trial presentation
values.correctAnswer: stores the correct answer to the anagram
response: the participant's response (as recorded)
values.currentResponse: stores the response (as used for analysis of accuracy)
correct: the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect)
latency: the response latency (in ms); measured from onset of anagram
values.countAttempted: counts the number of attempted anagrams during the test
(2) Summary data file: 'unsolvableanagrams_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.practiceDifficulty: 1 = easy practice;
2 = difficult practice
values.testDifficulty: 1 = easy test;
2 = difficult test
values.countAttempted: counts the number of attempted anagrams during the test
expressions.propCorrect_practice: proportion correct solved anagrams during practice
expressions.propCorrect_test: proportion correct solved anagrams during test
expressions.meanRT_test: mean lateny of correctly solved anagrams during the test phase
expressions.passORfail: if more than 7 anagrams were solved correctly during the test phase, the test is passed (otherwise fail)
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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4 experimental conditions (assignment by groupnumber):
group1 = easy practice, easy test
group2 = easy practice, difficult test
group3 = difficult practice, easy test
group4 = difficult practice, difficult test
Practice Block:
* 5 anagrams (order is randomly determined)
* timeout for each anagram:
* feedback after each anagram for 500ms
Test Block:
* 25 anagrams (order is randomly determined)
* timeout for each anagram:
* feedback after each anagram for 500ms
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STIMULI
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see section Editable Stimuli
* Practice Items are taken from Feather & Simon (1971)
* 25 test items each for difficult and easy test condition were generated by Millisecond Software.
Note: these test anagrams are untested. You can easily substitute your own.
Note: 1/5 (=5) anagrams for the difficult condition are unsolvable English anagrams
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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 can be edited by changing the provided htm/html files.
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:
/anagram_fontsize: the size of the anagrams in canvas height percentage (default: 5%)
/practiceTimeout: the timeout for practice items in ms (default: 30000)
/testTimeout: the timeout for test items in ms (default: 30000)