Last Modified: June 25, 2026 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP), a priming procedure using supraliminal primes to assess implicit attitudes. The rationale of the AMP is that people, despite instructions to the contrary, cannot ignore (supraliminal) primes and will automatically attribute the attitudes they have towards the prime (category) to stimuli presented after.
The script implements a simple procedure to measure implicit attitudes towards flowers and insects (used as the primes). It is designed to be easily adaptable to other target categories. Target categories can be edited in scripts 'amp_stimuli_inc.iqjs' (language-independent stimuli such as images)/'amp_stimuli_inc.iqjs' (language-dependent stimuli such as category labels).
Payne, B.K., Cheng, C.M., OGovorun, O., and Stewart, B.D. (2005). An Inkblot for Attitudes: Affect Misattribution as Implicit Measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 89, No. 3, 277-293.
3 minutes
Participants see brief flashes of pictures of flowers (dedicated 'pleasant' stims), insects (dedicated 'unpleasant' stims) and a neutral stimulus (gray shape) followed by Chinese characters and are asked to judge the pleasantness of each Chinese character as "pleasant" or "unpleasant" as fast as possible.
see section Editable Stimuli in script 'amp_stimuli_inc.iqjs'
see section Editable Instructions in script 'amp_instructions_inc.iqjs'.
This script contains all language-specific stimuli and instructions used for the AMPT.
File Name: amp_summary*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| completed | 0 = Test was not completed 1 = Test was completed |
Pleasant Ratings |
|
| propPleasantA | Proportion 'pleasant' ratings for targets following primeA |
| propPleasantB | Proportion 'pleasant' ratings for targets following primeB |
| propPleasantNeutral | Proportion 'pleasant' ratings for targets following neutral primes |
| ampBiasScoreA | Difference (propPleasantA - propPleasantNeutral)*100, Range: -100 <= score <= 100 => positive score: positive bias towards primeA => negative score: negative bias towards primeA |
| ampBiasScoreB | Difference (propPleasantA - propPleasantNeutral)*100, Range: -100 <= score <= 100 => positive score: positive bias towards primeB => negative score: negative bias towards primeB |
Rt |
|
| meanRTPleasantA | Mean response time (in ms) for 'pleasant' ratings for targets following primeA |
| meanRTPleasantB | Mean response time (in ms) for 'pleasant' ratings for targets following primeB |
| meanRTPleasantNeutral | Mean response time (in ms) for 'pleasant' ratings for targets following neutral primes |
| meanRTUnpleasantA | Mean response time (in ms) for 'unpleasant' ratings for targets following primeA |
| meanRTUnpleasantB | Mean response time (in ms) for 'unpleasant' ratings for targets following primeB |
| meanRTUnpleasantNeutral | Mean response time (in ms) for 'unpleasant' ratings for targets following neutral primes |
Acc |
|
| trial.primeA.totalPercentCorrect | The percent correct for primeA (flowers) across all test blocks (here: 1 test block) correct = participant pressed the response key that corresponds to the prime (here: pressed pleasant for trials with flowers) |
| trial.primeB.totalPercentCorrect | The percent correct for primeB (insects) across all test blocks (here: 1 test block) correct = participant pressed the response key that corresponds to the prime (here: pressed unpleasant for trials with insects) |
| trial.primeNeutral.totalPercentCorrect | The percent correct for primeNeutral across all test blocks (here: 1 test block) correct = participant pressed the response key that corresponds to the prime (here: either response keys) |
File Name: amp_raw*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| date | Date the session was run |
| time | Time the session was run |
| subject | Participant ID |
| group | Group number |
| session | Session number |
| 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 |
| 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. |
| primestim | Stores the itemnumber of the current prime stimulus |
| targetstim | Stores the itemnumber of the current target stimulus |
| response | Scancode of the response button pressed (spacebar = 57) |
| responseText | Label of response key pressed |
| respCategory | "pleasant" vs. "unpleasant" |
| correct | Stores the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect) correctness in this script: pressed the response key that corresponds to the prime |
| latency | Response latency (in ms); in this script: measured from onset of target |
| trial.primeA.totalPercentCorrect | The percent correct for primeA (flowers) across all test blocks (here: 1 test block) correct = participant pressed the response key that corresponds to the prime (here: pressed pleasant for trials with flowers) |
| trial.primeB.totalPercentCorrect | The percent correct for primeB (insects) across all test blocks (here: 1 test block) correct = participant pressed the response key that corresponds to the prime (here: pressed unpleasant for trials with insects) |
| trial.primeNeutral.totalPercentCorrect | The percent correct for primeNeutral across all test blocks (here: 1 test block) correct = participant pressed the response key that corresponds to the prime (here: either response keys) |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
Timing Parameters |
||
| primeDuration | The duration (in ms) of the prime | 75 |
| primeTargetISI | The interstimulus interval (in ms) btw. offset of prime and onset of target the ISI presents an empty screen | 125 |
| targetDuration | The target duration (in ms) | 100 |
Response Keys |
||
| leftKey | The left response key ('E' is left on the QWERTY keyboard) | "E" |
| rightKey | The right response key ('I' is right on the QWERTY keyboard) | "I" |
| unpleasantKey | Assignment of left key to unpleasant ratings | parameters.leftKey |
| pleasantKey | Assignment of right key to pleasant ratings | parameters.rightKey |