Script Author: David Nitz (dave@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Last Modified: January 09, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements the Self-Paced Reading procedure described in:
Just, M. A., Carpenter, P. A., & Woolley, J. D. (1982). Paradigms and processes in reading comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 111(2), 228-238.
Related resources:
Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). A theory of reading: From eye fixations to comprehension. Psychological Review, 87(4), 329-354.
Thibadeau, R., Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1982). A model of the time course and content of reading. Cognitive Science, 6, 157-203.
Mitchell, D. C. (2004). On-line methods in language processing: Introduction and historical review. In M. Carreiras & C.E. Clifton, Eds., The on-line study of sentence comprehension: Eyetracking, ERP and beyond (pp. 15-32). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Note: Currently this program only supports left-to-right (LTR) languages.
4 minutes
Masked text examples are presented and revealed word by word by Spacebar press. 2 conditions:
Cumulative => words already revealed stay revealed non-cumulative => words that have previously been revealed are masked again when the next word is revealed
runs 2 conditions:
Cumulative (revealed words stay revealed) and Non-cumulative (once revealed words get mask again)
see section Editable Stimuli
see section Editable Instructions
File Name: selfpacedreading_summary*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| 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 |
File Name: selfpacedreading_raw*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| response | The participant's response |
| correct | The correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect) |
| latency | The response latency (in ms) |
| list.mwstims.nextValue | Current "page" number |
| winCount | Ordinal number of the currently displayed (target) text segment (window). |
| windowString | The current window (always unmasked) |
| text.myWindow.stimulusOnset | Returns the stimulus onset time in ms. The onset time is the point at which the stimulus is presented relative to the start of the trial. |
| inputend | Returns the total number of characters of the current input string (paragraph or sentence to be displayed in window segments). Used to determine the end of the paragraph and initiate the selection of the next stimulus (sentence or paragraph). |
| winStart | Start position of current text segment (window). |
| winend | End position of current text segment (window) |
| cumulative | Determines the moving window mode to use. If set to 'true', any previously displayed window segments will remain visible on the screen. If set to 'false' any previously displayed window segments will be remasked (noncumulative mode). Default is 'false'. |
| highlight | Determines whether the current window should be displayed in a different color than the remaining (masked or unmasked) text in order to make it more salient. The highlighting color can be adjusted via the '/ txcolor' attribute of 'text.mywindowhl'. Default is 'true'. |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| wIndicator | A single character that indicates each display segment (window). Must be set to a character which doesn't occur "naturally" in throughout the stimulus material (e.g. '|' or '#'). Each stimulus must start and end with this character. Default is "I". | |
| cumulative | Determines the moving window mode to use. If set to 'true', any previously displayed window segments will remain visible on the screen. If set to 'false' any previously displayed window segments will be remasked (noncumulative mode). Default is 'false'. | |
| highlight | Determines whether the current window should be displayed in a different color than the remaining (masked or unmasked) text in order to make it more salient. The highlighting color can be adjusted via the '/ txcolor' attribute of 'text.mywindowhl'. Default is 'true'. | |
| ucMaskChar | Character used to mask uppercase letters and numbers (as defined in 'list.uppercase'). Suitable characters include (but are not limited to) "-", "—", "_" or "…". The masking character may not be identical to the character defined as window indicator (-> 'parameters.windicator')! Default is "-". | |
| lcMaskChar | Character used to mask lowercase letters and interpunctuation characters (as defined in 'list.lowercase'). Suitable characters include (but are not limited to) "-", "—", "_" or "…". The masking character may not be identical to the character defined as window indicator (-> 'parameters.windicator')! Default is "-". |