Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Created: November 07, 2014
Last Modified: May 12, 2026 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script runs the shorter Yonitest 36 to assess cognitive and affective ToM (Theory of Mind) based on the original Shamay-Tsoory & Aharon-Peretz (2007) Yonitest images and the published short versions by Isernia et al (2023a). Isernia et al (2023a) report high reliability (Cronbach's Alpha >= 0.88) and a good convergent validity with 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test' (p < 0.001). The Yonitest 36 allows a comprehensive and quick examination of ToM abilities, suitable for both research and clinical settings.
Isernia, S., Rossetto, F., Blasi, V., Massaro, D., Castelli, I., Ricci, C., Shamay-Tsoory, S., Marchetti, A., & Baglio, F. (2023a). Measuring cognitive and affective Theory of Mind with the Italian Yoni task: normative data and short versions. Current Psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.), 42(27), 23519–23530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03457-5
Isernia, S., Rossetto, F., Shamay-Tsoory, S., Marchetti, A., & Baglio, F. (2023). Standardization and normative data of the 48-item Yoni short version for the assessment of theory of mind in typical and atypical conditions. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 14, 1048599. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2023a.1048599
Shamay-Tsoory, S.G. & Aharon-Peretz, J. (2007). Dissociable prefrontal networks for cognitive and affective theory of mind: A lesion study. Neuropsychologia, 45, 3054–3067.
Original Yoni-test with slides and instructions can be found at: https://sans.haifa.ac.il/Downloads.html
3 minutes
Participants view slides with a Yoni face in the middle and 4 objects (and occasionally faces) in each of the 4 screen quadrants. Participants are encouraged to click the object that makes the most sense in relation to provided statements such "Yoni thinks of ___________" as well as Yoni gazes (or the gazes of faces next to the 4 objects).
original Yoni-test with slides and instructions can be found at:
https://sans.haifa.ac.il/Downloads.html
See section Editable Stimuli for the original slides.
the numbering of the slides was adjusted, so that the numbers only refer to the
actual Yoni trials
Yonitest-36 only runs the images as published by Isernia et al (2023a, p.23527):
3,5,6*,7*,8,9,10,12,13,20,
21,22,25,30,32,36,54,55,29,33,
34,37,38,53,60*,71,72,75,79,80,
87,91,93*,94,95,98
(*items are the physical control items)
The current script covers up the English instructions from the original slides and replaces them
with superimposed text, so that it's easier to adjust the test for different language
versions.
The instructions can be edited in script 'yonitest_instructions_inc.iqjs'
File Name: yonitest36_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 |
| elapsedTime | Session duration in ms |
| 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 |
| version | "Y36" |
Demographic Information (If Run) |
|
| gender | Reported gender of participant: 0 = female; 1 = male; 0.5 = other |
| age | Reported age of participant |
| educationYrs | Reported number of years of formal education |
Control Performance Metrics |
|
| countControlItems | Number of control items ('physical') run |
| correctCountsP | Number of correct 'physical' responses |
| propCorrectP | Proportion correct in condition 'physical' (across orders) |
| meanRTP | Mean correct latency (in ms) in condition 'physical' (across orders) |
Test Condition Only (Cognitive/Affective) |
|
| countTestItems | Number of cognitive and affective test items run |
| correctCounts | Number of correct responses |
| propCorrect | Overall proportion correct |
| meanRT | Overall mean correct latency (in ms) |
| sdRT | Overall standard deviation of correct latencies |
| meanRTInS | Overall mean correct latency (in seconds, Range: 0-60, as reported by Isernia et al, 2023b) |
| countsC | Number of 'cognitive' items |
| correctCountsC | Number of correct 'cognitive' responses |
| propCorrectC | Proportion correct in condition 'cognitive' (across orders) |
| meanRTC | Mean correct latency (in ms) in condition 'cognitive' (across orders) |
| meanRTCInS | Mean correct 'cognitive' latency (in seconds, Range: 0-60, as reported by Isernia et al, 2023b) |
| countsA | Number of 'affective' items |
| correctCountsA | Number of correct 'affective' responses |
| propCorrectA | Proportion correct in condition 'affective' (across orders) |
| meanRTA | Mean correct latency (in ms) in condition 'affective' (across orders) |
| meanRTAInS | Mean correct 'affective' latency (in seconds, Range: 0-60, as reported by Isernia et al, 2023b) |
| countsOrder1 | Number of 'order1' items |
| correctCountsOrder1 | Number of correct 'order1' responses |
| propCorrectOrder1 | Proportion correct in condition 'order1' |
| meanRTOrder1 | Mean correct latency (in ms) in condition 'order1' |
| meanRTOrder1InS | Mean correct 'order 1' latency (in seconds, Range: 0-60, as reported by Isernia et al, 2023b) |
| countsOrder2 | Number of 'order2' items |
| correctCountsOrder2 | Number of correct 'order2' responses |
| propCorrectOrder2 | Proportion correct in condition 'order2' |
| meanRTOrder2 | Mean correct latency (in ms) in condition 'order2' |
| meanRTOrder2InS | Mean correct 'order 2' latency (in seconds, Range: 0-60, as reported by Isernia et al, 2023b) |
| countsCOrder1 | Number of 'cognitive/order1' items |
| correctCountsCOrder1 | Number of correct 'cognitive/order1' responses |
| propCorrectCOrder1 | Proportion correct 'cognitive/order1' responses |
| meanRTCOrder1 | Mean correct latency (in ms) in 'cognitive/order1' condition |
| meanRTCOrder1InS | Mean correct 'cognitive/order 1' latency (in seconds, Range: 0-60, as reported by Isernia et al, 2023b) |
| countsAOrder1 | Number of 'affective/order1' items |
| correctCountsAOrder1 | Number of correct 'affective/order1' responses |
| propCorrectAOrder1 | Proportion correct 'affective/order1' responses |
| meanRTAOrder1 | Mean correct latency (in ms) in 'affective/order1' condition |
| meanRTAOrder1InS | Mean correct 'affective/order 1' latency (in seconds, Range: 0-60, as reported by Isernia et al, 2023b) |
| countsCOrder2 | Number of 'cognitive/order2' items |
| correctCountsCOrder2 | Number of correct 'cognitive/order2' responses |
| propCorrectCOrder2 | Proportion correct 'cognitive/order2' responses |
| meanRTCOrder2 | Mean correct latency (in ms) in 'cognitive/order2' condition |
| meanRTCOrder2InS | Mean correct 'cognitive/order 2' latency (in seconds, Range: 0-60, as reported by Isernia et al, 2023b) |
| countsAOrder2 | Number of 'affective/order2' items |
| correctCountsAOrder2 | Number of correct 'affective/order2' responses |
| propCorrectAOrder2 | Proportion correct 'affective/order2' responses |
| meanRTAOrder2 | Mean correct latency (in ms) in 'affective/order2' condition |
| meanRTAOrder2InS | Mean correct 'affective/order 2' latency (in seconds, Range: 0-60, as reported by Isernia et al, 2023b) |
Adjusted Correct Count Performance Metrics (See Isernia Et Al, 2023B, Supplemental Materials) |
|
| adjOrder1 | Adjusted (by age/gender/education) of order1 correct counts |
| adjOrder2 | Adjusted (by age/gender/education) of order2 correct counts |
| adjA | Adjusted (by age/gender/education) of 'affective' correct counts |
| adjC | Adjusted (by age/gender/education) of 'cognitive' correct counts |
| acc | Adjusted proportion correct overall correct counts (Range: 0-1) |
| caA | Adjusted cognitive/affective accuracy index => shows balance between cognitive and affective components Isernia et al (2023b): A caA score near 0 suggests a balance between cognitive and affective ToM performance a score near 1 indicates a higher affective than cognitive ToM performance level a score near −1 a higher cognitive than affective ToM performance level. |
| adjOrder1RT | Adjusted (by age/gender/education) mean correct response time of order 1 trials; original response time (in ms) converted to seconds and limited to 60s |
| adjOrder2 | Adjusted (by age/gender/education) mean correct response time of order 2 trials; original response time (in ms) converted to seconds and limited to 60s |
| adjA | Adjusted (by age/gender/education) mean correct response time of 'affective' trials; original response time (in ms) converted to seconds and limited to 60s |
| adjC | Adjusted (by age/gender/education) mean correct response time of 'cognitive' trials; original response time (in ms) converted to seconds and limited to 60s |
| rt | Adjusted response time measure analog to the adjusted proportion correct score caA (practical range: 0 to 1) theoretically, with response times of almost 0 or almost 60, the range is slightly larger Isernia et al (2023b): An 'rt' score near 1 indicates a high level of performance (fast response). |
| caRT | Adjusted cognitive/affective response time index => shows balance between cognitive and affective components Isernia et al (2023b): A caRT score near 0 suggests a balance between cognitive and affective ToM performance a score near 1 indicates a higher affective than cognitive ToM performance level a score near −1 a higher cognitive than affective ToM performance level. |
File Name: yonitest36_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. |
| version | "Y36" |
| index | Contains the itemnumber of the current slide |
| testCondition | 0 = control item (physical) 1 = test item (cognitive & affective) |
| condition | Contains the condition tied to the current slide (e.g. cognitive, affective, physical) |
| faceExpression | Contains the facial expression of Yoni tied to the current slide (e.g. happy, neutral, sad) |
| eyes | Contains Yoni's eye gaze in relation to the correct answer for the current slide (e.g. 'misleading', 'leading', 'non') |
| order | 1 = first order; 2 = second order see under EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP the explanation for first/second order statements |
| verbs | Contains the verbs used for the current slide |
| correctAnswer | Contains the correct answers tied to the current slide |
| image | Contains the current image presented |
| response | The participant's response |
| correct | The correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = otherwise) |
| latency | The response latency (in ms); measured from onset of image |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| runDemoGraphicQuestions | True: script collects gender, age, and education information false: no demographic data are collected | true |