Shooting Task

Background

(Target) Shooting Tasks are measures of psychomotor speed and visual tracking. They present participants with displays of objects (e.g. red disks) that need to be clicked upon (with computer mouse) or touched (with fingers/stylus pens on touch screens) as fast as possible. In some implementations, the targets move around, in others they are static. Millisecond's Shooting Task implementations only use static targets.

In one implementation, participants get presented with a number of targets on the screen (e.g. 6) and have a set amount of time to 'shoot' as many of the targets as they can. Once a target is hit, it is immediately replaced by a new one that appears in a new random location. This set up is based on a publication by Ethan J. Rogers and colleagues from 2024 who studied the impact of caffeine on shooting performance in esport players. A similar question was investigated by by Shih‑Hao Wu and colleagues in the same year. Their shooting task procedure included a fixed number of 3-disk displays that needed to be eliminated within 2 seconds each. Both research groups report a favorably influence of caffeine on shooting performance in esports.

Task Procedure

Both task implementation use the same user interface. Participants view a 3-D room simulation where the shooting targets always appear on the far wall of the room. Each implementation allows the far wall of the room to be presented in three different sizes (disks sizes are accordingly adjusted), mimicking a change in the distance to the targets. By default, both implementation use level 1 which requires larger movements (since the area is larger) and less precise hitting (since the targets are larger).

In the Millisecond implementation based on Rogers et al (2024), participants play an optional practice session for 30 seconds before the actual 1-minute test session begins. The default set up presents participants with 6 red disks. As soon as a disk is hit, a new one appears in a new randomly selected location (script ensures that there is no disk overlap).

In the Millisecond implementation based on Wu et al (2024), participants also start with an optional practice session. The optional practice session runs 5 target displays of three 3 disks each. After the practice session, participants work on 20 test displays. Each display presents 3 disks located in random locations that need to be hit within 2 seconds (default duration). After 2 seconds any remaining disks get erased and a new display of 3 disks appears.

What it Measures

The Target Shooting Task measures psychomotor speed and visual tracking

Psychological domains

• Visuomotor Coordination: The ability of the brain, eyes, and body to work together on a task
• Psychomotor Speed: Ability of brain and muscles to work together fast to complete a physical movement task

Main Performance Metrics

• Hit Precision: Number of hits relative to all hit attempts
• Hit Response Time: The time (in ms) it took on average to score a hit
• Score: The final score calculated as the product of the number of hits made times the hit precision

Psychiatric Conditions

Target Shooting tasks are used in clinical research and neurological rehabilitation for patient groups such as

• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
• Stroke
• Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)
• Parkinson’s Disease (PD)
• Huntington’s Disease (HD),
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Test Variations

References

Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Shooting Task.

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Rogers EJ, Trotter MG, Johnson D, Desbrow B and King N (2024). Caffeine improves the shooting performance and reaction time of first-person shooter esports players: a dose-response study. Front. Sports Act. Living 6:1437700. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1437700

Rogers EJ, Trotter MG, Johnson D, Desbrow B and King N (2024). KovaaK’s aim trainer as a reliable metrics platform for assessing shooting proficiency in esports players: a pilot study. Front. Sports Act. Living 6:1309991. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1309991

Wu, S.-H., Chen, Y.-C., Chen, C.-H., Liu, H.-S., Liu, Z.-X., & Chiu, C.-H. (2024). Caffeine supplementation improves the cognitive abilities and shooting performance of elite e-sports players: a crossover trial. Scientific Reports, 14(1), Article 2074. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52599-y