___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *SYMBOL SEARCH* ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software LLC Date: 10-01-2012 last updated: 10-19-2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC Script Copyright © 10-19-2023 Millisecond Software ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BACKGROUND INFO ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This script implements a computerized version of the WISC Symbol Search Task, as measure of processing speed, developed by Amy Finn (Ph.D), John Gabrieli (Ph.D.) and Julia Leonard. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TASK DESCRIPTION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Participants are presented with 10 rows of symbols. In each row, there are 2 symbols on a gray background (on the left) and 5 symbols on a light blue background (on the right). Participants are instructed to look for a match amongst the 5 symbols on the right for either one of the two symbols on the left. If they find a match, they are instructed to click it. If no match is found, participants are instructed to click a NO button next to the row. A circle appears to mark the choice. They have 2 minutes to work through as many rows as they can. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DURATION ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ the default set-up of the script takes appr. 3 minutes to complete ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DATA OUTPUT DICTIONARY ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The fields in the data files are: (1) Raw data file: 'symbolsearch_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. . pageCount: stores the current page nextrow: stores the rownumber of the currently active row response: the participant's response (selected response box 1-6, 6 = no) selectedResp: the number of the selected responsesbox: 0=no, 1-5 (Note: this column contains data that can directly be compared to correctBox) correctBox: stores the number of the currently active correct responsebox (1-5, 0 = no box) correct: the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect) latency: the response latency (in ms); from onset of current trial sumCorrect: sums up all correct responses (2) Summary data file: 'symbolsearch_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) (parameter) timeLimit: duration (in ms) for the timed portion of the test (default: 120000ms ->2min) sumCorrect: sums up all correct responses __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (A) Practice: Participants are provided three example rows that have the correct matches circled. Three more practice rows are provided for the participants to do the symbol matching themselves. If a mistake is made, participants are asked to correct their choice. A red circle will mark their incorrect choice and a text message appears next to the row that says "Please, correct". Only when participants have completed all three practice rows successfully, a START button will appear. Once participants click the START button the timed portion of the task begins. (B) Timed Test: Participants have 2 minutes to complete as many rows as they can. No feedback is provided during timed testing. Once participants select an answer choice and click on it, the answer choice is circled. Participants cannot skip rows and a selection made cannot be corrected. Each screen contains 10 rows. A new screen is presented once participants finish with the 10th row. Note On Canvassize: In order to provide roughly the same size set-up on different monitors, a specific pixel resolution can be set under DEFAULTS (example: 1024px,768px). !!!However, there is no absolute relationship between a pixel and any "real", physical measurement unit (mm, cm, inches, etc.). It's different on each monitor. If the same size is REQUIRED, you can use script MonitorCalibration.iqjs to calibrate your monitor. Transfer the data stored for values.canvassize (in MonitorCalibration.iqjs) into /canvassize = under the DEFAULTS section in this script. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIMULI ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ provided by Millisecond Software - can be edited under section Editable Stimuli ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INSTRUCTIONS ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ All instruction stimuli are presented under section Editable INSTRUCTIONS. Instructions are either pages, text stimuli, or instruction images. If instructions need to be changed on images, new images need to be created (e.g. in PowerPoint) and saved under the current file names. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EDITABLE CODE ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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: /timeLimit: duration (in ms) for the timed portion of the test (default: 120000ms ->2min)