Reading the Mind in Films Task - Adult Version

Technical Manual

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

Created: January 18, 2016

Last Modified: January 05, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements a computerized version of the "Reading the Mind in Films Task" (Adult Version) by Golan et al (2006). The task provides a measure of complex emotion recognition in adults.

References

O. Golan, S. Baron-Cohen, J.J. Hill and Y. Golan, (2006) The 'Reading the Mind in Films' Task: complex emotion recognition in adults with and without autism spectrum conditions Social Neuroscience,1 (2), 111-123.

Films can be downloaded from: https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/arc_tests for genuine research purposes and acknowledgement of the ARC (Autism Research Centre - Cambridge University) as the source

Duration

15 minutes

Description

Participants view 22 film clips (+ 1 practice) and are asked to select one of 4 possible adjectives to describe the emotion of one of the characters.

Procedure

• 22 short film clips (+ 1 practice clip)
-> order of films is the same for each participant (sequential sampling)
• Trial Sequence:
a) presentation of next target question + answer choices (continues upon Spacebar press)
b) presentation of film (+ presentation of target question + answer choices) (continues once movie ends)
c) Response collection via mouse click (optional definition handout presented on screen -> see Editable Parameters)
Definition Handout (of the adjectives) provided with this script

Stimuli

Films and Materials made available for genuine research by ARC (Autism Research Centre - Cambridge University) at:
https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/arc_tests

Instructions

Instructions made available for genuine research by ARC (Autism Research Centre - Cambridge University) at:
https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/arc_tests
(minimal edits for this script)

Summary Data

File Name: readingmindinfilm_adult_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
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
propCorrect Proportion correct selections
meanRT Mean latency (in ms) of correct selections
sdRT Standard deviation (in ms) of correct selection latencies

Raw Data

File Name: readingmindinfilm_adult_raw*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
build Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject Participant ID
group Group number
session Session number
blockCode Name of the current block
blockNum Number of the current block
trialCode Name of the current trial
trialNum Number of the current trial
movie Stores the movie currently presented
stimulusitem.1-4 The presented stimuli in order of trial presentation
correctResponse Stores the correct response (A-D)
response The participant's response (A-D)
correct Accuracy of response: 1 = correct response; 0 = otherwise
latency The response latency (in ms); measured from: offset of movie

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
showDefinitionHandout True: the Definition Handout is automatically presented as an htm-stimulus on screen anytime participants are asked to select a word
false: no Definition Handout is automatically presented (default)
an Excel file of the Definition Handout by https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/arc_tests is provided with the script
iti Intertrial interval in ms 500ms