Spatial Perspective Taking Test - Children - Keyboard

Technical Manual

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

Credits:
Millisecond thanks the E. Bialystok lab for sharing material and scripts!

Created: January 19, 2023

Last Modified: January 09, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements Millisecond's version of the Perspective Taking Test (Greenberg et al, 2013); a test to study perspective taking skill in children using a child-friendly setup.

The original test was programmed in eprime and the test was translated into Inquisit by Millisecond.

References

Greenberg, A., Bellana, B., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Perspective-taking ability in bilingual children: Extending advantages in executive control to spatial reasoning. Cognitive Development, 28(1), 41–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2012.10.002

Duration

7 minutes

Description

After three practice trials, participants work on 12 trials in which they have to decide how an observer (here: an owl) sees a four-block array from one of three different spatial positions (90°, 180°, and 270° counter-clockwise from the child's position) by selecting one of four responses -- the correct response, the egocentric error, an incorrect choice in which the array is correct but in the wrong orientation for the viewer, and an incorrect choice in which the array includes an internal spatial error.

This script uses the keyboard to collect responses (keys: T,U,G,J are used to select the four different options)

Procedure

(1) Practice: 3 examples
- the examples are presented in fixed order
(assignment of option1-option4 to keys T,U,G,J is fixed as well but can be randomized if needed)
- feedback provided
- practice block can be repeated as often as needed

(2) Test: 12 trials
- three perspectives (looking from the left, from the back, from the right) x 4 blocks (blocks_0, blocks_90, blocks_180, blocks_270)
- order of 12 trials randomized
- screen position of option1-option4 randomized
=> assigned screen position is tied to the response key for that option
T (left, top)
U (right, top)
G (left, bottom)
J (right, bottom)
- no feedback during the test

Trial Sequence:
-> target block alone (2000ms)
-> target block with Owl (2000ms)
-> target block, Owl and 4 response options until response is made

Stimuli

provided by E. Bialystok lab - can be edited under section 'Editable Stimuli'

Instructions

provided by E. Bialystok lab - can be edited under section 'Editable Instructions'

Summary Data

File Name: perspectivetakingtask_keyboard_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
countCorrect Number of Correct responses
countOriented Number of Oriented responses
countEgocentric Number of Egocentric responses
countStructured Number of Structured responses
propCorrect Proportion Correct responses
meanCorrRT Mean response time (in ms) of correct responding

Raw Data

File Name: perspectivetakingtask_keyboard_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.
phase Practice vs test
blockCounterPerPhase The number of blocks run in the current phase
trialCounterPerBlock The number of trials run in the current block
trialIndex The trialIndex (1-12)
target Stores the selected block target image
owl Stores the selected owl image
selectOwl Stores the itemnumber of the selected owl image
option1 Stores the option1 image
option2 Stores the option2 image
option3 Stores the option3 image
option4 Stores the option4 image
selectedOption1 Stores the response category of option1 (test: correct)
selectedOption2 Stores the response category of option2 (test: oriented -> correct front-back relationship of blocks but with a left-right reversal)
selectedOption3 Stores the response category of option3 (test: egocentric -> the child's view of the array)
selectedOption4 Stores the response category of option4 (test: structured -> correct internal structure of blocks but incorrect orientation relative to the owl's position
the assignment of options to screen positions is randomized for each trial
option1Key The response key for option1
option2Key The response key for option2
option3Key The response key for option3
option4Key The response key for option4
the response key is tied to the screen position of the options
response The response of participant (scancode of response button)
responseText The response key label
selectedOption Option1, option2, option3, option4
resp The response category (correct, oriented, egocentric, structured)
corrResp Stores the correct response key
correct 1 = correct response; 0 = other
latency Response latency (in ms); measured from: onset of response options
Screen Positions Of The 4 Response Options
picture.option1.x Horizontal screen position of option1 (in screen percentages)
picture.option1.y Vertical screen position of option1 (in screen percentages)
picture.option2.x Horizontal screen position of option2 (in screen percentages)
picture.option2.y Vertical screen position of option2 (in screen percentages)
picture.option3.x Horizontal screen position of option3 (in screen percentages)
picture.option3.y Vertical screen position of option3 (in screen percentages)
picture.option4.x Horizontal screen position of option4 (in screen percentages)
picture.option4.y Vertical screen position of option4 (in screen percentages)

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
Timing Parameters
delayDurationMS The delay duration (in ms) of owl/response options
the response options appear 2*2000ms = 4000ms after onset of target block
2000
practiceFeedbackDurationMS The feedback duration (in ms) during practice1500