User Manual: Inquisit Sorting Paired Features Task with mouse


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	*Inquisit Demonstration Script for the Sorting Paired Features Task - with Mouse/Touchscreen Input*
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last updated:  10-12-2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC

Script Copyright © 2004, Brian Nosek
Script made available for academic research purposes only

Script has been edited and updated by Millisecond Software

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BACKGROUND INFO 	
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This script implements a Sorting Paired Feature Task, an indirect attitude measure.
The Sorting Paired Feature Task is a variant of the Implicit Association Task (IAT). Like the IAT it is
based on the  assumption that it is easier to respond to items if they are associated in the mind.
Unlike the IAT, items of two categories are presented as actual pairs on the computer screen
(e.g. as a picture of George Bush with the adjective friendly attached to it) and have to be sorted into
4 main categories (the four possible combinations a paired item can belong to). 
Hypothesis 'congruent' and 'incongruent' pairs can thus be presented in a mixed format.

The Inquisit script was provided by Dr. Brian Nosek and updated for mouseinput by Millisecond Software.

Reference:

Bar-Anan, Nosek, & Vianello (2009). The sorting paired features task: 
A measure of association strengths. Experimental Psychology.

This script corresponds to the implicit measurement portion of Study 3.

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TASK DESCRIPTION	
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The Sorting Paired Feature Task provides 4 main sorting categories in the four corners of the screen.
The 4 main sorting categories are categories that combine two concepts. In this script the 4 main 
sorting categories are: "George Bush & Bad", "George Bush & Good", "John Kelly & Bad", "John Kelly & Good", .
In this script, the separate categories "George Bush", "John Kelly", "Good", "Bad" are also used
(= 8 different sorting categories)

Participants are given items to sort, one at a time in the middle of the screen.
They are asked to sort the items into one of the 8 categories as fast as possible by selecting
the appropriate category with their finger/mouse.
Error responses result in error feedback and participants have to correct the response before
a new trial can start.

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DURATION 
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 8 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: 'sortingpairedfeatures_mi_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.	

mainCategory:					1 = the current trial is considered one of the four main categories in the Polall Block
								main 4 categories: combined categories
								Democrat-Bad, Democrat-good, Republican-Bad, Republican-good

response:						the participant's response
								Note: Key Response stores the final correct response
										
correct:						the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect)
								Note: acc stores the accuracy of the initial (=uncorrected) response

latency: 						the response latency (in ms) of the final correct response

(2) Summary data file: 'sortingpairedfeatures_mi_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)

									
Note: The following summary variables were added to the original script by Millisecond Software.
All summary variables can also be calculated based on the raw data.									
																		
									
The following summary variables only apply to trials from the 4 main sorting categories
(Democrat-Bad, Democrat-good, Republican-Bad, Republican-good) in the Polall block;
By design, all trial responses are correct responses.
									
count300:						number of trials with response latencies < 300ms		
count4000:						number of trials with response latencies > 4000ms

Note: the following summary variables only apply to trials from the 4 main sorting categories
(Democrat-Bad, Democrat-good, Republican-Bad, Republican-good) in the Polall block with
300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms	

nPolallMain4Conditions:		number of main trials run (with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)	
polallRTMain4Conditions:		mean response latency (in ms) across the 4 main categories in the Polall block	(with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)	
polallSDMain4Conditions:		standard deviation (in ms) of latencies  across the 4 main categories in the Polall block	(with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)	


polallRTDBad:					mean response latency (in ms) of sorting combined 'Democrat-Bad' stimuli (with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)			
polallSDDBad:					standard deviation (in ms) of latencies sorting combined 'Democrat-Bad' stimuli (with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)			

polallRTDGood:				mean response latency (in ms) of sorting combined 'Democrat-Good' stimuli (with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)			
polallSDDGood:				standard deviation (in ms) of latencies sorting combined 'Democrat-Good' stimuli (with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)			

polallRTRBad:					mean response latency (in ms) of sorting combined 'Republican-Bad' stimuli (with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)			
polallSDRBad:					standard deviation (in ms) of latencies sorting combined 'Republican-Bad' stimuli (with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)			

polallRTRGood:				mean response latency (in ms) of sorting combined 'Republican-Good' stimuli (with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)			
polallSDRGood:				standard deviation (in ms) of latencies sorting combined 'Republican-Good' stimuli (with 300ms <= response latencies <= 4000ms)			

Difference Scores for the 4 main conditions: 
subtracting the overall reaction time mean of the 4 main sorting categories from the individual mean of each sorting category and 
then standardizing this difference by dividing it by the overall standard deviation of the latencies of those 
4 main sorting conditions

positive D-scores = participants responded slower than on average 
negative D-scores = participant responded faster than on average:

D_DB (democrat bad)
D_DG (democrat good)
D_RB (republican bad)
D_RG (republican good)

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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP 
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2 main tasks:

POLALL: 3 blocks
the sorting paired feature task providing the main 4 sorting categories: Democrat-Bad, Democrat-Good, Republican-Bad, Republican-Good
as well as 4 additional sorting categories: Democrat, Republican, Good, Bad

* Only correct responses advance a trial (=> error penalty automatically added to latencies)
* each block runs 64 trials
* 2 different spatial arrangements of sorting categories are tested across participants (Polall1 vs. Polall2);
the assignment is done by groupnumber. Odd groupnumbers run Polall1; even groupnumbers run Polall2.

Note: summary variables are added by Millisecond Software and are only calculated based on sorting latencies 
of trials belonging to the main 4 sorting categories.


SPF3: sorting paired feature task with 3 categories
a) Democrat-Bad, Democrat-Good, single item category
b) Republican-Bad, Republican-Good, single item category

Note: the SPF3 task is currently skipped by the default set-up of this script.
See editable parameters.skipSPF under section Editable Parameters
	
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STIMULI
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can be edited under section Editable Stimuli

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INSTRUCTIONS 
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can be edited under section Editable Instructions

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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:

/runSPF3:		True (1): the SPF3 blocks are run by this script
				False (0): the SPF3 blocks are skipped by this script (default)

/minRT:			sets the minimum latency (in ms) considered for summary variables
/maxRT:			sets the maximum latency (in ms) considered for summary variables