Manikin Test of Spatial Orientation and Transformation - Mouse/Touchscreen

Technical Manual

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

Created: January 18, 2014

Last Modified: January 18, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script runs the Manikin Test to test spatial reasoning described by Englund et al (1987). This implementation presents response buttons for mouse input/touch responding.

References

UNIFIED TRI-SERVICE COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT BATTERY (UTC-PAB) I. DESIGN AND SPECIFICATION OF THE BATTERY. ENGLUND, C.E., REEVES. D.L., SHINGLEDECKER, C.A., THORNE, D.R., WILSON, K.P., & HEGGE. F.W. (1987). REPORT NO. 87-10, NAVAL HEALTH RESEARCH CENTER, P 0 BOX 85122, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 92138 NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COMMAND, BETHESDA, MARYLAND (p.29)

Duration

7 minutes

Description

Participants view Manikins superimposed on either a red square or green circle that hold a red square in one hand and a green circle in the other. Manikins can be right side up or upside down, can face towards participant ('forward') or face away from participant ('backward'). Participants have to decide as fast as possible if the manikin holds the shape that is congruent with the background (e.g. the red square) in the left or right hand and press corresponding buttons on the screen.

Procedure

Practice Block: by default runs 1 block of 16 trials (all possible combinations once)
with performance (accuracy) feedback for 1s
Test Block: by default runs 4 blocks of 16 trials (no performance feedback)

16 manikins:
2 vertical rotation (up vs. down)
x 2 lateral rotation (forward vs. backwards)
x 2 shape (circle vs. square)
x 2 congruent hand (left vs right)

Stimuli

manikins provided by Millisecond (can be easily be exchanged for others under Editable Stimuli;
the file names should be kept as they are used to extract condition information about the stimulus)

Manikins show facial features, buttons, slit pockets, belt buckle when forward (aka facing towards the participant)
Manikins show hair on the head, back pockets, no buttons and no belt buckle when backwards
(when facing away from participant)

Instructions

Instructions are provided by Millisecond in the form of html pages.
They are based on the ones published by Englund et al (1987).

To edit htm/html-files: open the respective documents in simple Text Editors such as TextEdit (Mac)
or Notepad (Windows).

Summary Data

File Name: manikintest_mi_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
propCorrect Proportion correct (testblocks only)
Summary Variables, Separated For Total, Correct, Incorrect, Righthand And Lefthand Responses
countTotal Counts the total number of trials
meanRTTotal Mean latency of all trials (in ms)
stdTotal Standard deviation of latencies of all trials
medianRTTotal Calculates the median of the sorted items (in ms)
maxRTTotal Stores the minimum latency (in ms)
minRTTotal Stores the maximum latency (in ms)
rangeTotal Stores the range of latencies

Raw Data

File Name: manikintest_mi_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)
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.
verticalorientation "U(pright)" vs. "D(ownside)" (aka standing on the head)
horizontalorientation "F(orward)" vs. "B(ackward)"
Forward facing => participant sees the front of the manikin
Backward facing => participant sees the back of the manikin
stimShape "C(ircle)" vs. "S(quare)"
congruentHand "R(ight)" vs. "L(eft)"
stimulusItem The presented image
response The participant's response (LEFT vs. RIGHT)
correct The correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = otherwise)
latency The response latency (measured from onset of stimuli to pressing response button; in ms)

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
Design
numberPracticeBlocks Number of practice blocks to run1
numberTestBlocks Number of testblocks to run4
Timing Parameters
getReadyDuration Duration (in ms) of get ready trial3000
practiceFeedbackDuration The duration (in ms) of the feedbackstimulus1000