Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Created: January 18, 2016
Last Modified: January 10, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements the Self-Referential Processing Task, a learning paradigm to study the impact of self-related vs. other-related information on simple perceptual matching tasks.
Sui, J., He, X., & Humphreys, G.W. (2012). Perceptual Effects of Social Salience: Evidence From Self-Prioritization Effects on Perceptual Matching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol. 38, No. 5, 1105–1117 (Experiment 1)
15 minutes
Participants are given 3 -shape associations (e.g. "Circle is yourself") with shapes "circle", "square", "triangle" and s "You", "Friend"*, "Stranger". In forced-choice matching trials, they then have to decide quickly whether a random pairing of shape and (e.g. Circle paired with 'Friend') is a match or not.
•by default, this script collects the actual name of a friend. This setting can be changed under section Editable Parameters
1 Practice Block: 12 trials (present all possible combinations)
3 Test Blocks: each block runs 120 trials in 6 conditions (order of trials is randomly determined):
Self-shape Trials:
self-match: 20 trials
self-mismatch (=> self-friend: 10 trials, self-stranger: 10 trials)
Friend-shape Trials:
friend-match:20
friend-mismatch:20
Stranger-shape Trials
stranger-match:20
stranger-mismatch:20
Trialsequence: fixation (500ms) -> stim presentation (100ms) -> random ResponseWindow (800-1200ms) -> Feedback (500ms) -> optional ITI
At the end of each block, participants receive accuracy feedback and can take a break (unless it's the last block, then they are done)
By default, the fixation cross is presented in the center; the shape is presented above the fixation cross and the below the
fixation cross. Distances/sizes can be edited under Editable Parameters.
Assignment of to Shape:
The assignment of to shape is counterbalanced by group number. This script runs
3 different combinations - each gets associated with each shape once.
see section Editable Stimuli
all stimuli are white presented on a gray background
the sizes/vertical positions of the shapes/s can be adjusted under Editable Parameters
Instructions are not original to the task. They are provided by Millisecond
as htm/html pages and can be edited by changing the provided htm/html files.
To edit htm/html-files: open the respective documents in simple Text Editors such as TextEdit (Mac)
or Notepad (Windows).
in order for the instructions to reflect alternative parameter settings,
some of the conditionalized code used in the htm files can be found in the script itself.
File Name: selfreferentialprocessing_summary*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| inquisit.version | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| 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 |
| selfShape | Stores the shape name assigned to 'self' |
| friendShape | Stores the shape name assigned to 'friend' |
| strangerShape | Stores the shape name assigned to 'stranger' |
| friendName | The name used for the Friend matches |
| propCorrectOverall | Overall proportion correct across all test trials |
| meanRTOverall | Overall mean latency (in ms) of correct responses across all test trials |
| sdOverall | Overall standard deviation (in ms) of correct response latencies across all test trials |
| propCorrectSelfMatch | Proportion correct across all self (shape)-matched test trials |
| meanRTSelfMatch | Mean latency (in ms) of all correct responses to all self-matched test trials |
| propCorrectFriendMatch | Proportion correct across all friend-matched test trials |
| meanRTFriendMatch | Mean latency (in ms) of all correct responses to all friend-matched test trials |
| propCorrectStrangerMatch | Proportion correct across all stranger-matched test trials |
| meanRTStrangerMatch | Mean latency (in ms) of all correct responses to all stranger-matched test trials |
| propCorrectSelfMismatch | Proportion correct across all self-MisMatched test trials |
| meanRTSelfMismatch | Mean latency (in ms) of all correct responses to all self-MisMatched test trials |
| propCorrectFriendMismatch | Proportion correct across all friend-MisMatched test trials |
| meanRTFriendMismatch | Mean latency (in ms) of all correct responses to all friend-MisMatched test trials |
| propCorrectStrangerMismatch | Proportion correct across all stranger-MisMatched test trials |
| meanRTStrangerMismatch | Mean latency (in ms) of all correct responses to all stranger-MisMatched test trials |
File Name: selfreferentialprocessing_raw*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| build | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| date | Date the session was run |
| time | Time the session was run |
| subject | Participant ID |
| group | Group number |
| session | Session number |
| blockCode | Name of the current block |
| blockNum | Number of the current block |
| trialCode | Name of the current trial |
| trialNum | Number of the current trial |
| selfShape | Stores the shape name assigned to 'self' |
| friendShape | Stores the shape name assigned to 'friend' |
| strangerShape | Stores the shape name assigned to 'stranger' |
| friendName | The name used for the Friend matches |
| phase | "practice", "test" |
| matchCondition | "match" vs. "mismatch" |
| shapeCategory | "self", "friend", "stranger", |
| shapeImage | Stores the currently presented shape image |
| text | Stores the currently presented text |
| responseWindow | Stores the duration (in ms) of the current responsewindow |
| response | The participant's response (scancode of response button) |
| correct | The correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect) |
| latency | The response latency (in ms); measured from OFFSET of shape/s |
| iti | Intertrial interval in ms |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| collectFriendName | True (1): the script provides a textbox to enter the name of an actual friend this name is then used for the friend-shape pairings (default) false (0): the script does not collect the name of an actual friend and uses the generic "FRIEND" for the friend-shape pairings | |
| pictureSize | The size of the shape pics in canvas percentage | 30% |
| size | The size of the s in canvas height percentages | 5% |
| fixationSize | The size of the fixation cross in canvas height percentages | 5% |
| fixationY | The y-coordinate (in screen percentages) of the fixation cross | 50% |
| shapeY | The y-coordinate (in screen percentages) of the shape | 35% |
| y | The y-coordinate (in screen percentages) of the | 65% |
| responseKeyLeft | The left responsekey | A |
| responseKeyRight | The right responsekey | L |
| fixationDuration | The duration (in ms) of the fixation cross at the beginning of a block | 500 |
| stimPresentation | The duration (in ms) of the shape/ presentation | 100ms |
| iti | Intertrial interval in ms | 0ms |