Dutch version ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Number Line Estimation Task ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Script Author: Bob Kapteijns, Radboud University, The Netherlands Giovanni ten Brink, Radboud University, The Netherlands Date: August, 2022 last updated: 04-01-2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC Millisecond Software thanks Drs. Kapteijns and ten Brink for sharing their Inquisit script with the Millisecond library! The script was updated for Inquisit 7 by K. Borchert for Millisecond Software. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BACKGROUND INFO ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This script implements the Number Line Estimation Task generously shared by Drs. Kapteijns and ten Brink. The Number Line Estimation task can be used to investigate students' understanding of numerical magnitudes and how they represent numbers mentally. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TASK DESCRIPTION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Participants are asked to place several numbers on a number line (0-10 vs. 0-100). ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DURATION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ the default set-up of the script takes appr. 5 minutes to complete ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DATA OUTPUT DICTIONAIRY ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The fields in the data files are: (1) Raw data file: 'XXX_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: with the current subject id group: with the current group id 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. cnt: trialCounter index: the index of the currently presented number (refers to item.random10 or item.random100) presentedN: the currently presented number resp: custom response variable: selected slider response divided by 10 response: built-in trial response variable: stores the slider response for block1 (10): 0-100 for block2 (100): 0-1000 latency: the response latency in ms (until next button is pressed) exit: 0 = block 2 was not prematurely exited with response of 0 1 = block 2 was prematurely exited with response of 0 (2) Summary data file: 'xxx_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) exit: 0 = block 2 was not prematurely exited with response of 0 1 = block 2 was prematurely exited with response of 0 //block1: scale 0-10 b1S1: number [S]timulus1 - smallest presented number stimulus (independent of presentation order) b1R1: numberline [R]esponse made to number [S]timulus1 (on scale 0-10) (same for the remaining 5 stimuli-response pairs; number stimuli from smallest to largest) //block2: scale 0-100 b2S1: number [S]timulus1 - smallest presented number stimulus (independent of presentation order) b2R1: numberline [R]esponse made to number [S]timulus1 (on scale 0-100) (same for the remaining 11 stimuli-response pairs) //Order variables: store the randomly generated presentation [0]rder in which the number stimuli were presented from first to last stimulus b1O1: stores the number stimulus that was presented first ([O]rder position: 1) (same for all remaining stimuli in block1 and block2) Logfile: commented by Millisecond Software The original script provided one data file that collected the data of all participants. Millisecond Software added a raw and a summary data file. The summary data file stores one line per participant. The separate summary data files can be merged into one big data file in the Inquisit Editor using: File -> Merge Data Files For data file explanations check above. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Information from Script Authors: This number line estimation task consists of two blocks: - Block 1: six items on a scale of 0-10 (currently: three items below 5, three above 5. Specifically: 2,3,4,6,7,8) - Block 2: twelve items on a scale of 0-100 (currently: six items below 50, six above 50) Within each block, the items are presented in a randomized order. The two blocks are separated by an instruction screen, which can be skipped by tapping the bar (using touchscreen) or by pressing Enter (using keyboard). In both blocks, the number line is visualized as a "slider element". It is advised to use a cursor (mouse) to move the slider. For children who are too young to use the mouse, this script can also run on a touchscreen device. However, on touchscreen, the slider element might be too thin to be used effectively by most children. So: if a touchscreen device is chosen, it is advised to do the following steps in each trial: 1. The experimenter clicks on the slider "toggle" with the mouse, and holds down the mouse button. 2. While the mouse button stays pressed down, the child can easily tap on the "slider toggle" with their finger, and move it to the desired location on the scale. 3. The experimenter releases the mouse button once the child has released their finger. 4. The experimenter checks with the child whether this is the desired location. 5. The experimenter clicks on the "Finish" button, to proceed to the next trial. Within both blocks, the number of increments on the slider is 10x higher than the supposed scale. So: the 0-10 scale (Block 1) actually has 100 steps, and the 0-100 scale (Block 2) actually has 1.000 steps. This is done because the 0-10 scale would otherwise only have 10 increments, which would make it much too easy. Furthermore, having a more detailed scale allows for a higher resolution when measuring the participant's performance. Within the script, the responses are automatically divided by 10 before logging. This means that the results in the logfile do not need to be scaled anymore. If Block 2 (scale 0-100) is too difficult for a participant (e.g. a young child), the experimenter has the option to terminate the script by giving a response of ZERO on the scale. In this case, the previous trials will still be written to the logfile. The remaining (non-presented) items will get a value of zero. This script runs a confirmation trial after 0 was entered to ensure that the task should indeed be terminated. Check section Editable Parameters for parameters to turn on/off the termination functionality. For example, you may want to turn it off if you run the script remotely and have limited control over your participants' response behavior. At the start of the task, the experimenter can/should mention the following things when giving instructions: - Here we see a long, horizontal line. This line represents a "number line", on which all numbers between 0 and 10 are represented. - Look: the 0 is here on the left, and 10 is here on the right. - This means that all numbers between 0 and 10 will fit on this line, each in their own specific location. - The numbers between 0 and 10 are now missing, but we will try to place them back, precisely in their appropriate location along this line. Final notes: - On some devices, the participant can also move the toggle of the slider by using the arrow keys on the keyboard. The experimenter should be aware of this. - This script contains optional written/verbal instructions. These can be turned on/off via editable parameter settings. - This script does not provide practice items. - In number line estimation tasks, it is commonly the rule that the experimenter does NOT verbally pronounce the written number. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIMULI ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ provided by by original script - can be edited under section 'Editable Stimuli' ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INSTRUCTIONS ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The original script does not run any instructions. Instructions are provided verbally by the task administrator. Millisecond Software added an optional instructions block to this script. The script runs a short instruction block with auditory and visual text instructions that can be repeated. Instructions content is based on suggestions by the original authors. Auditory sound files were created with Google translator and Audacity. The instructions can be turned on/off via editable parameters and can be edited in helper script numberlineestimationtask_instructions_inc.iqjs ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EDITABLE CODE ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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: //design: / runInstructions = true //true = instructions are run //false = script does not provide instructions (original) //Note: the instructions are added by Millisecond Software; the original task //does not run instructions / runAbortResponse = true //true = selecting a 0 response during the second block (scale: 0-100), can terminate the task //before the task is permanently terminated, a confirmation trial is run (at which point, the task can be continued as well) //false = selecting a 0 response during the second block (scale: 0-100) has no termination effect on the task //Note: the original task ran with a 'true' setting (albeit without confirmation trial)