Task Home

Symbol Search

Technical Manual

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

Created: January 01, 2012

Last Modified: January 29, 2026 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements a computerized version of the WISC Symbol Search Task, as measure of processing speed, developed by Amy Finn (Ph.D), John Gabrieli (Ph.D.) and Julia Leonard.

Note the script runs with proportional sizing by default. Researchers can select to run the task with an absolute screen size to ensure that distances stay the same across devices. See section Defaults for more info.

References

WAIS-IV Technical and Interpretive Manual (Wechsler, 2008). WISC-V Technical and Interpretive Manual (Wechsler, 2014).

Duration

3 minutes

Description

Participants are presented with 10 rows of symbols. In each row, there are 2 symbols on a gray background (on the left) and 5 symbols on a white background (on the right). Participants are instructed to look for a match amongst the 5 symbols on the right for either one of the two symbols on the left. If they find a match, they are instructed to click it. If no match is found, participants are instructed to click a NO button next to the row. A circle appears to mark the choice. They have 2 minutes to work through as many rows as they can.

Procedure

(A) Practice:
Participants are provided three example rows that have the correct matches circled. Three more
practice rows are provided for the participants to do the symbol matching themselves.
If a mistake is made, participants are asked to correct their choice. A red circle will
mark their incorrect choice and a text message appears next to the row that says "Please, correct".
Only when participants have completed all three practice rows successfully, a START button will
appear. Once participants click the START button the timed portion of the task begins.

(B) Timed Test:
Participants have 2 minutes to complete as many rows as they can. No feedback is provided during
timed testing. Once participants select an answer choice and click on it, the answer choice is circled.
Participants cannot skip rows and a selection made cannot be corrected.
Each screen contains 10 rows. A new screen is presented once participants finish
with the 10th row.

Note On Canvassize:
In order to provide roughly the same size set-up on different monitors, a specific pixel resolution can be
set under DEFAULTS (example: 1024px,768px).

!!!However, there is no absolute relationship between a pixel and any "real",
physical measurement unit (mm, cm, inches, etc.). It's different on each monitor.
If the same size is REQUIRED, you can use script MonitorCalibration.iqjs to calibrate your monitor.
Transfer the data stored for values.canvassize (in MonitorCalibration.iqjs) into
/canvassize = under the DEFAULTS section in this script.

Stimuli

provided by Millisecond - can be edited under section Editable Stimuli

Instructions

See script symbolsearch_instructions_inc.iqjs for instruction material

Summary Data

File Name: symbolsearch_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
timeLimit Duration (in ms) for the timed portion of the test (default: 120000ms ->2min)
sumCorrect Sums up all correct responses

Raw Data

File Name: symbolsearch_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.
pageCount Stores the current page
nextrow Stores the rownumber of the currently active row
response The participant's response (selected response box 1-6, 6 = no)
selectedResp The number of the selected responsesbox: 0=no, 1-5 ( this column contains data that can directly be compared to correctBox)
correctBox Stores the number of the currently active correct responsebox (1-5, 0 = no box)
correct The correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect)
latency The response latency (in ms); from onset of current trial
sumCorrect Sums up all correct responses

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
Ui
canvasColor Display color of the actively used portion of the screen (the 'canvas')white
screenColor Color of the screen not used by the canvas ('inactive screen')
if set to a color other than the canvasnColor, you can distinguish the active canvas
from the inactive portion of the screen		white
defaultTextColor Default color of text itemsblack
Timing Parameters
timeLimit Duration (in ms) for the timed portion of the test 120000
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