Inattentional Blindness Task - Animation

Technical Manual

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Credits:
this script is based on An Raes' original inattentionalblindness.iqjs script that collects
the input on paper and pencil

the input on paper and pencil

Last Modified: January 04, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script runs an Inattentional Blindness Task adapted from Most et al (2005). Inattentional blindness is the phenomenon that people fail to notice unexpected events because their attention is focused on something else.

References

Most, S. B., Scholl, B. J., Clifford, E. R., & Simons, D. J. (2005). What you see is what you set: sustained inattentional blindness and the capture of awareness. Psychological review, 112(1), 217–242. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.112.1.217

Duration

5 minutes

Description

Participants view several animated displays that depict members of 4 shapes in white and black floating around in a field (here: squares and circles). The task is to count how often a certain kind of shape bumps into the walls. At some point during the experiment, a target stimuli (here: a red X) moves through the space.

Procedure

2 trials that present animated displays without target
2 trials that present animated displays with a target (here: red X) without target alert
-> however, instructions at the end ask whether something unusual was noticed
1 trial that presents video with a target with explicit target alert

Stimuli

The animated displays are randomly created by the script.

Instructions

see section Editable Instructions

Summary Data

File Name: dynamicinattentionalblindness_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
computer.touch 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities
computer.hasKeyboard 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed
noticeCritical 1 =participant noticed something during critical trial
0 = otherwise
responseCritical Contains the detailed description of the stimulus noticed during the critical trial

Raw Data

File Name: dynamicinattentionalblindness_raw*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
build Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
computer.touch 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities
computer.hasKeyboard 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject Participant ID
group Group number
session Session number
blockcode The name the current block (built-in Inquisit variable)
blocknum The number of the current block (built-in Inquisit variable)
trialcode The name of the currently recorded trial (built-in Inquisit variable)
trialnum The number of the currently recorded trial (built-in Inquisit variable)
trialnum is a built-in Inquisit variable; it counts all trials run
even those that do not store data to the data file.
focusDistractor The type of figure randomly selected to pay attention to (1-4)
stimulusItem The presented stimuli in order of trial presentation
response The participant's response (scancode of response buttons)
latency The response latency (in ms)
fig1BorderCount-fig4BorderCount The computer counted bounces
noticeCritical 1 =participant noticed something during critical trial
0 = otherwise
responseCritical Contains the detailed description of the stimulus noticed during the critical trial

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
Ui
showCenterLine True = a center line is presented in the middle of the display
false = no center line is presented in the middle of the display
false
Sizing Parameters
targetCenterDistanceInPercent: The %distance that the target travels above (negative values) or below (positive values)
from the center of the display
0%
Timing Parameters
movieDuration The duration (in ms) that the dynamic 'movies' should play15000
targetDelay The delay (in ms) of the target after onset of 'movie'7000
targetSpeed The approximate speed (in ms) of the target through the visible space5000
distractorSpeed The time (in ms) that each distractor figure takes to travel from one spot to the next100