Überball

Technical Manual

Script Author: K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Credits:

This script is generously shared with the Millisecond library by Dr. S.Dandeneau
(contact email: dandeneau.stephane@uqam.ca).
Millisecond updated the user manual and added several variables to the
data file as well as added a sizing parameter for the video size.

This script is generously shared with the Millisecond library by Dr. S.Dandeneau
(contact email: dandeneau.stephane@uqam.ca).
Millisecond updated the user manual and added several variables to the
data file as well as added a sizing parameter for the video size.

Last Modified: January 25, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

Überball runs a preferential social inclusion condition which increases fundamental needs fulfillment in contrast to the exclusion game played by traditional cyberball games.

See: https://www1.psych.purdue.edu/~willia55/Announce/cyberball.htm

References

Überball

Simard, V., & Dandeneau, S. (2018). Revisiting the Cyberball inclusion condition: Fortifying fundamental needs by making participants the target of specific inclusion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 74, 38-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.08.002

Cyberball:

Williams, K. D., Cheung, C. K. T., & Choi, W. (2000). CyberOstracism: Effects of being ignored over the Internet. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 748-762.

Williams, K. D., & Jarvis, B. (2006). Cyberball: A program for use in research on ostracism and interpersonal acceptance. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 38, 174-180.

Duration

5 minutes

Description

Participant plays ball with 3 other participants (= the computer). Once the participant receives the ball, they decide to throw the ball to another player via mouse click (touch).

Procedure

• Participant plays ball with 3 other players for 50 trials.
The number of trials can be edited under EDITABLE PARAMETERS/EXPRESSIONS.

• By default, all players are represented by names.
Names and pictures can be edited under EDITABLE STIMULI.
To change names or pictures go to EDITABLE PARAMETERS/EXPRESSIONS.

• By default, player 1 and player 4 throws the ball to participant (=player2) AND DO NOT throw to player 3.
Go to EDITABLE LISTS for further instructions.

• Decision Times for Player 1,3 and 4 are controlled by list.cyberdecisiontime.nextValue under
EDITABLE PARAMETERS/EXPRESSIONS.

• Instructions can be edited under EDITABLE INSTRUCTIONS

Stimuli

picture examples are provided by Millisecond. They can easily be edited under section
Editable Stimuli

Instructions

can be edited under section Editable Instructions

Summary Data

File Name: uberball_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
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
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
Parameter Values
showPictures True = pictures of players are onscreen (default)
false = no pictures are presented
showLabels True = labels of players are onscreen (default)
false = no labels are presented
item.player1.1-item.player4Label.1 Images and labels used for the various players
Performance Metrics
maxTrialCount Maximum number of trials (= passes between all players) played
ignore2Streak1 The number of times player 2 (participant) was ignored before player2 (participant)
gets to respond for the first time
maxIgnore2 The longest streak of ignoring player 2 (participant) in the game that participant experienced
before being able to respond
countPlayer2throws Counts the number of times that player 1 gets to throw the ball
countPlayer2throws Counts the number of times that player 3 gets to throw the ball
countPlayer2throws Counts the number of times that player 2 (participant) gets to throw the ball
meanRTPlayer2 Mean latency (in ms) of player 2 (participant)
count12 Counts the number of times that player 1 throws to player 2 (participant)
perc12 Percentage of player 1 throws that play to player 2 (participant)
count21 Counts the number of times that player 2 (participant) throws to player 1
perc21 Percentage of player 2 throws (participant) that play to player 1
meanRT21 Mean latency (in ms) of player 2 (participant) decisions to throw to player 1
(same for player 3 and 4)
percSamePlayer Percentage of player 2 (participant) throws when player 2 throws the ball back to the player who threw the ball to participant
random selection -> 1/3 times of all player 2 throws
percOtherPlayer Percentage of player 2 (participant) throws when player 2 throws ball to the player who didn't threw the ball to participant
random selection -> 2/3 times of all player 2 throws
meanRTSamePlayer Mean latencies (in ms) of trials in which player2 (participant) throws ball back to the player who threw the ball to participant
meanRTOtherPlayer Mean latencies (in ms) of trials in which player2 (participant) throws ball to a player who didn't threw the ball to participant

Raw Data

File Name: uberball_raw*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
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
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject Participant ID
group Group number
session Session number
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)
Trialcode Explanation
Examples
"p1to2" => in this trial player 2 (participant) throws the ball AFTER getting it from player 1
"p1to3" => in this trial player 3 throws the ball AFTER getting it from player 1 (random selection decides whether player 3 throws to player 1)
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.
player Stores the current player
recipient Stores the recipient of the current ball toss (1, 2, 3, 4)
response The (participant's) response
latency The response latency (for trials in which player 1 and 3 "play", the latency
is the randomly selected trialduration)
countIgnore2 Counts how often player 2 (participant) was "ignored" before a throw (resets every time
player 2 gets to throw the ball)

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
maxTrialCount Maximum number of trials (= passes between the players) played50
showPictures True = pictures of players are onscreen
false = no pictures are presented (default)
false
showLabels True = labels of players are onscreen (default)
false = no labels are presented
true
Note: Parameters.Showpictures And Parameters.Showlabels Cannot Be Set To False At The Same Time.
videoSize Sets the size of the video relative to canvas30%