Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Created: June 04, 2018
Last Modified: September 04, 2026 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements a Simple Auditory Reaction Time Task loosely based on Fry (1975). The task measures auditory processing speed.
Note: the original study was conducted with tape recorders. This script adapts the original procedure to the computer. Voice responses are omitted in this script.
Fry, D.B. (1975). Simple Reaction-Times to Speech and Non-Speech Stimuli. Cortex, 11, 355-360.
5 minutes
Participants hear two different sounds and are asked to respond to the sounds by pressing the spacebar.
By default, the sounds are tested in a mixed design (can be changed to a blocked design under section Editable Parameters)
sound file for the letter 'a' from: https://soundbible.com/2009-A-Z-Vocalized.html#A-Z%20Vocalized%20Sound
sound file for telephone ring from: https://free-mobi.org/ringtones/sound-effects/telephone-ring
both sound files were cut to 450ms and their peak amplitude set at 1.0dB by Millisecond
in Audacity.
provided by Millisecond
all text stimuli can be edited under section Editable Instructions
File Name: simpleauditoryreactiontimetask_summary*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| startDate | Date the session was run |
| startTime | Time the session was run |
| subjectId | Participant ID |
| groupId | Group number |
| sessionId | Session number |
| 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 |
| elapsedTime | Session duration in ms |
| completed | 0 = Test was not completed 1 = Test was completed |
| testTrialsTotal | Total number of test trials run (across blocks) |
| countEarlyResponsesTotal | Total number of early responses (across blocks) |
| propEarlyResponsesTotal | Proportion early responses across all test trials |
| testtrialsSound1 | Calculates number of test trials run in Sound1 condition |
| meanRTSound1 | Mean response latency (in ms) to the sound stimulus in Sound1 condition (here: space bar press to 'a') |
| sdSound1 | Standard deviation of response latencies (in ms) in Sound1 condition |
| countEarlyRespSound1 | Counts all "early responses" (responses BEFORE sound onset) in sound1 condition |
| propEarlyResponsesSound1 | Proportion early responses of all test trials run in Sound1 condition (here: space bar press to 'a') |
| testTrialsSound2 | Calculates number of test trials run in Sound2 condition |
| meanRTSound2 | Mean response latency (in ms) to the sound stimulus in Sound2 condition (here: space bar press to 'telephone ring') |
| sdSound2 | Standard deviation of response latencies (in ms) in Sound2 condition |
| countEarlyRespSound2 | Counts all "early responses" (responses BEFORE sound onset) in Sound2 condition |
| propEarlyResponsesSound2 | Proportion early responses of all test trials run in Sound2 condition (here: space bar press to 'telephone ring') |
File Name: simpleauditoryreactiontimetask_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. |
| countTestBlocks | Counts the number of test blocks run |
| blockTrialCount | Custom variable to count the trials run in a given block |
| countValidBlockResponses | Counts the number of valid responses per block (valid = response started after onset of stim) |
| phase | "practice" vs. "pretest" (the first 5 trials in each test block) vs. "test" |
| sound | 1 = sound1 (here: 'a') 2 = sound2 (here: telephone ring) |
| delay | Stores the randomly selected sound delay (in ms) - relative to onset of trial |
| response | The participant's response (57 = spacebar press) |
| correct | Accuracy of response (1 = correct; 0 = otherwise) |
| latency | The response latency (in ms); measured from: onset of trial (NOT onset of sound), see 'Sound RT' below |
| validResponse | 0 = invalid (should be repeated); 1 = valid |
| trialTimestamp | The script elapsedtime (in ms; measured from script start) of the current trial onset |
| sound.tone.timestamp | The script elapsedtime (in ms; measured from script start) of the last presented sound onset if the tone has not been played yet, the variable contains a randomly selected number |
| rtTimestamp | The elapsedtime of the current response relative to start of script (in ms) calculated as timestamp of trial onset + latency; timestamp of trial is measured from start of script, latency is measured from start of trial |
| rtStimOnset | The elapsed time of the current response relative to onset of sound stim (= RESPONSE TIME TO SOUND; in ms) (when the sound stim timestamp is still the same as the one from the previous trial at time of response, Sound RT = "Early Response" as no new sound has been played yet) calculated as the difference from 'rtTimestamp - timestamp of sound onset' (both are measured from onset of script) |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
Design |
||
| mixedDesign | True = the 2 sound stimuli are presented within the same block false = the 2 sound stimuli are tested within a blocked design | true |
| showRtFeedback | True (1) = response time feedback is provided for valid responses false (0) = no response time feedback is provided | true |
| repeatEarlyResponseTrials | True (1) = early response trials get immediately repeated => at conclusion of script, there are 30 valid response measures in all 4 blocks false (0) = early response trials do not get repeated | true |
Timing Parameters |
||
| readyDuration | The default duration (in ms) of the get-ready trial | 2000 |
| earlyResponseFeedback | The duration (in ms) of the "Early Response" Feedback | 1000 |
| rtFeedbackDuration | Duration (in ms) of response time feedback the response time feedback adds additional 500ms to the task for each trial | 500 |