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Four Armed Bandit Task
(with keyboard responses)
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Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Date: 02-14-2018
last updated: 10-03-2024 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 10-03-2024 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements a 'Four Armed Bandit Task'; a paradigm to study the conflict between
the opposing demands of gathering new information and exploiting known information to maximize
profits in human decision making.
The implemented procedure is similarly to the one described in:
Daw, N.D., O'Doherty, J.P., Dayan, P., Seymour, B. & Dolan, R.J. (2006).
Cortical substrates for exploratory decisions in humans.
Nature. 2006 June 15; 441(7095): 876–879.
and Supplemental Materials (Refer to Web version on PubMed Central for supplementary material)
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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Participants have to choose between four slots that are each tied to different payoffs.
The payoffs of each slot fluctuate from trial to trial. Specifically,
the payoffs for each slot are drawn from a Gaussian distribution (standard deviation = 4)
around mean M, rounded to the nearest integer (enforced range 1-100).
At the beginning of each selection trial, the mean for each slot diffuses in a decaying
Gaussian random walk and the new payoffs are drawn from their respective (updated) distributions (Daw et al, 2006).
Participants are instructed to maximize their payoffs.
Participants use keyboard keys to make their choice.
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 30 minutes to complete
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DATA OUTPUT DICTIONARY
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The fields in the data files are:
(1) Raw data file: 'fourarmedbandittask_raw*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)*
build: The specific Inquisit version used (the 'build') that was run
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
date, time: date and time script was run
subject, group, with the current subject/groupnumber
session: with the current session id
blockCode, blockNum: the name and number of the current block (built-in Inquisit variable)
trialCode, trialNum: the name and number of the currently recorded trial (built-in Inquisit variable)
Note: trialNum is a built-in Inquisit variable; it counts all trials run; even those
that do not store data to the data file such as feedback trials. Thus, trialNum
may not reflect the number of main trials run per block.
countRounds: counts the number of rounds played
totalTrialCount: running count of all test trials run across rounds
trialCountPerRound: running count of test trials per round
noResponseCount: running count of all test trials where no selection was made (in time) across rounds
response: the participant's response
=> trial.selection: the selected slot ('slot1' (red), 'slot2' (green), 'slot3' (blue), 'slot4' (yellow) )
latency: the response latency (in ms); measured from:
selectionRT: the latency (ms) of selecting the current slot; measured from onset of all four 'slots'
selectedSlot: the selected slot: 1, 2, 3, 4
choice: 0 = no selection made (timed-out)
1 = exploitative selection made (participant selected the slot with the highest known payoff at this point)
2 = exploratory selection (participant selected an slot that did not have the highest known payoff at this point)
Note: choice is determined in 'trial.selection' based on the last known payoffs seen before making the choice
currentHighestSeenPayOffSlot: the slot that has the currently known highest payoff of the four options
currentHighestSeenPayOff: the currently known highest payoff
Note:
trial.selection stores the value that is known when the selection is made (but before the result has been revealed)
trial.iti stores the potentially updated value that is known at the end of the trial
lastSeenPayOff1: stores the last seen payOff for 'slot1'
lastSeenPayOff2: stores the last seen payOff for 'slot2'
lastSeenPayOff3: stores the last seen payOff for 'slot3'
lastSeenPayOff: stores the last seen payOff for 'slot4'
Note: currenthighestSeenPayOff is calculated as the highest of these 4 values
Note: all 'lastSeenPayOffs' are updated at the END of each trial sequence
trial.selection: stores the known payOffs at the start of the trial sequence
trial.iti: stores the known payOffs at the end of the trial sequence
total: the total points won
currentPayoff: stores the current payoff 'paid' based on the selected slot
highestPayOffSelected: 1 = the slot with the currently highest payoff was selected
2 = a slot with a lesser payoff was selected
0 = no choice was made
Note: at time of making their choice, participants were not aware of any potential changes in relative
payoffs.
currentHighestPayOffSlot: the slot with the currently highest payoff (is not necessarily known by player)
payOff1: current payoff for selecting 'slot1'
payOff2: current payoff for selecting 'slot2'
payOff3: current payoff for selecting 'slot3'
payOff4: current payoff for selecting 'slot4'
mean: helper variable to calculate the current means for the four slots
mean1: the current mean payoff for 'slot1'; used to calculate payoff1
mean2: the current mean payoff for 'slot2'; used to calculate payoff2
mean3: the current mean payoff for 'slot3'; used to calculate payoff3
mean4: the current mean payoff for 'slot4'; used to calculate payoff4
(2) Summary data file: 'fourarmedbandittask_summary*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)*
inquisit.version: Inquisit version run
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
startDate: date script was run
startTime: time script was started
subjectId: assigned subject id number
groupId: assigned group id number
sessionId: assigned session id number
elapsedTime: time it took to run script (in ms); measured from onset to offset of script
completed: 0 = script was not completed (prematurely aborted);
1 = script was completed (all conditions run)
totalTrialCount: number of test trials run across rounds
noResponseCount: number of test trials where no selection was made (in time) across rounds
propNoResponses: proportion no responses (no choice was made)
propHighestPayOff: proportion highest payOff option selected (of all trials in which a choice was made)
propExploitative: proportion exploitative choices (of all trials in which a choice was made)
Note: 'exploitative' selection (in this script):
participant selected the slot with the highest known payoff at this point
* separate data files: to change to one data file for all participants (on Inquisit Lab only), go to section
"DATA" and follow further instructions
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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(1) Demo: 5 trials (runs with different payoff values than test trials)
(2) Test: 2 rounds with 150 trials each; break in between
Trial Set-Up:
4 slots: represented by a red (1), green (2), blue (3) and yellow (4) box;
slots are selected by keyboard press
Trial Sequence:
slot selection (max. 1500ms) -> animated slot (2000ms) -> reveal of selected slot's payoff (1000ms) -> blank screen (1000ms)
(if no slot is selected within 1500ms -> error feedback (4200ms) -> blank screen (1000ms))
PayOff Calculations:
PayOffs for each slot calculated at beginning of each trial.selection (with i = 'slots' 1-4):
payOff(i) = round(randGaussian(values.newmean(i), 4)); rounded to the nearest integer
with Max PayOff = 100 and Min PayOff = 1 (see Daw et al, 2006, Supplementary Methods),
additional constraint implemented in this script: the calculated payOffs have to be different from each other
(new payoffs are calculated based on the same means if two of the payoffs end up being the same)
with:
newmean(i) = 0.9836*previousmean(i) + (1-0.9836)*50 + randGaussian(0, 2.8) (see Daw et al, 2006 for further explanation, Supplementary Methods)
Notes:
* function randGaussian(mean, standarddeviation) samples a value from the normal distribution with the given mean
and standarddeviation
* initial means of 20, 40, 60, 80 (editable parameters) are assigned randomly to the four 'slots'
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STIMULI
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provided by Millisecond Software - can be edited under section Editable Stimuli
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INSTRUCTIONS
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provided by Millisecond Software (not original to Daw et al, 2006)- can be edited under section Editable Instructions
* main instructions are provided via *.htm files. To edit instructions replace existing htm files or edit
provided ones using simple text editors such as Notepad (win) or TextEdit (Mac)
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EDITABLE CODE
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check below for (relatively) easily editable parameters, stimuli, instructions etc.
Keep in mind that you can use this script as a template and therefore always "mess" with the entire code
to further customize your experiment.
The parameters you can change are:
/skipTotal: true (1): the total points won are NOT presented on screen (default)
false (0): the total points won are presented on screen
/startMean1: the first mean value to use to calculate payoffs for the first trial (default: 20)
/startMean2: the second mean value to use to calculate payoffs for the first trial (default: 40)
/startMean3: the third mean value to use to calculate payoffs for the first trial (default: 60)
/startMean4: the fourth mean value to use to calculate payoffs for the first trial (default: 80)
Note: these means are randomly assigned to 'slot1'-'slot4'
/slotSize: the proportional size of the four 'slots' (proportional to canvas) (default: 40%)
/selectionTimeout: the response timeout (in ms) for making a choice (default: 1500ms)
/timeoutWarningDuration: the duration (in ms) of the red X to signal a no response timeout (default: 4200ms)
/animationDuration: the duration (in ms) of the animated slot (the wait time until result is revealed) (default: 2000ms)
/outcomeDuration: the duration (in ms) of the result (the reveal of the points won) (default: 1000ms)
/iti: the intertrial interval in ms (default: 1000)
Note: in this script, the iti is fixed (compare to: Daw et al, 2006, Supplementary Methods)
/breakDuration: btw. round rest duration (in ms) (default: 60000ms)
/readyDuration: 'get ready' duration (in ms) (default: 2000ms)
//reponsekeys:
/ slot1TopLeftKey = "E" //slot1 key
/ slot2TopRightKey = "I" //slot2 key
/ slot3BottomRightKey = "M" //slot3 key
/ slot4BottomLeftKey = "C" //slot4 key
