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T.O.V.A. (Test of Variables of Attention) - auditory stimuli
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last updated: 10-04-2024 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 10-04-2024 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements and administers: T.O.V.A. (Test of Variables of Attention),
a computerized test of sustained attention and impulsivity with auditory stimuli.
The T.o.V.A. is a Continuous Performance Test (CPT) with two simple tones
(high/low).
Reference:
Greenberg, L.M., & Waldman, I.D. (1993). Developmental normative data on the Test of Variable of
Attention (T.O.V.A.™). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, 1019–1030.
Greenberg, L.M., Kindschi, C.L., Dupuy, T.R., Hughes, S.J. (2016). TOVA:
Test of Variable Attention. Clinical Manual.
http://files.tovatest.com/documentation/8/Clinical%20Manual.pdf
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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Participants are presented 2 different tones (each 100ms) at a constant pace (every 2s).
If the stimulus is a target (aka high tone), they are asked to press the Spacebar.
If it's not a target (aka low tone), they are asked to simply wait for the
next stimulus.
Participant work through blocks with low frequency and high frequency targets.
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 24 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: 'tova_auditory_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.
frequency: 1 = low frequency condition;
2 = high frequency condition;
0 = practice
response: the participant's key response (scancodes: 57 = Spacebar; 0 = noResponse)
correct: the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect)
latency: the response latency (in ms); measured from onset of target/nontarget
anticipatoryResponse: 1 = response is anticipatory (latency < parameters.minValidLatency; default: 200ms);
0 = response is not anticipatory
commissionError: 1 = valid commission error (excludes anticipatory responses);
0 = no valid commission error
postCommissionHit: 1 = valid hit (excludes anticipatory responses) immediately after a commission error;
0 = not a valid hit immediately after a commission error
(2) Summary data file: 'tova_auditory_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) minValidLatency: minimum latency in ms that is considered valid and not anticipatory (default: 200)
sumAnticipatoryResponses: sums up number of anticipatory responses across all test trials
percentAnticipatoryResponses: percentage of anticipatory response during test trials
Notes:
(a) the following summary statistic exclude all anticipatory responses (default: responses with latencies < 200ms)
(b) z-scores were adjusted according to Gregg & Sedikides (2010, p.148)
If the hit rate / FA rate is 0 => 0.005 is used instead
IF the hit rate / FA rate is 1.0 => 0.995 is used instead
propCorrectPractice: overall proportion correct of practice trials
overallProportionCorrect: overall proportion correct of all experimental trials (across all test blocks)
meanPostCommissionRT: mean correct hit latencies (in ms) committed immediately after a commission error (across all test blocks)
meanHitRT: mean hit latency (in ms) of all experimental trials (across all test blocks)
sdHitRT: standard deviation of all hit latencies (across all test blocks)
hitRate: hit rate (across all test blocks)
omissionsRate: omission rate (miss rate) (across all test blocks)
commissionRate: false alarm rate (across all test blocks)
crRate: correct rejection rate (across all test blocks)
zHr: z-value of hit rate (across all test blocks)
zFAr: z-value of false alarm rate (across all test blocks)
dPrime: d' (parametric measure of discriminability). (across all test blocks)
c: c-criterion in signal detection:The absolute value of c provides an indication of the strength of
the response bias/response style
negative: participant more likely to report that signal (go stims) is present (liberal response style);
may favor faster responding in speed-accuracy trade-off response paradigms
positive: favoring caution (conservative response style)
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low frequency targets: across both blocks
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meanHitRTLF: mean hit latency (in ms) in low frequency condition (across both low frequency blocks)
sdHitRTLF: standard deviation of all hit latencies in low frequency condition (across both low frequency blocks)
hitRateLF: hit rate in low frequency condition (across both low frequency blocks)
omissionsRateLF: omission rate (miss rate) in low frequency condition (across both low frequency blocks)
commissionRateLF: false alarm rate in low frequency condition (across both low frequency blocks)
crRateLF: correct rejection rate in low frequency condition (across both low frequency blocks)
zHrLF: z-value of hit rate in low frequency condition (across both low frequency blocks)
zFArLF: z-value of false alarm rate in low frequency condition (across both low frequency blocks)
dPrimeLF: d' (parametric measure of discriminability) in low frequency condition (across both low frequency blocks)
cLF: c-criterium in low frequency condition
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high frequency targets: across both blocks
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meanHitRTHF: mean hit latency (in ms) in high frequency condition (across both high frequency blocks)
sdHitRTHF: standard deviation of all hit latencies in high frequency condition (across both high frequency blocks)
hitRateHF: hit rate in high frequency condition (across both high frequency blocks)
omissionsRateHF: omission rate (miss rate) in high frequency condition (across both high frequency blocks)
commissionRateHF: false alarm rate in high frequency condition (across both high frequency blocks)
crRateHF: correct rejection rate in high frequency condition (across both high frequency blocks)
zHrHF: z-value of hit rate in high frequency condition (across both high frequency blocks)
zFArHF: z-value of false alarm rate in high frequency condition (across both high frequency blocks)
dPrimeHF: d' (parametric measure of discriminability) in high frequency condition (across both high frequency blocks)
cLH: c-criterium in high frequency condition
and separate summary variables for each block of LF and HF:
lf1: first block with low frequency targets
lf2: second block with low frequency targets
hf1: first block with high frequency targets
hf2: second block with high frequency targets
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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5 blocks: total of 698 trials (648 test trials and 50 practice trials); takes ~24 minutes
(errorfeedback is optional, see section Editable Parameters)
Practice: 50 trials with target:nontarget frequency = 1:1 (lasts ~2 minutes)
Test Blocks:
1. Low Frequency1: 162 trials with 36 targets, 126 nontargets (1:3.5)(lasts ~5.5 minutes) => ~11 min on Low Frequency condition
2. Low Frequency1: 162 trials with 36 targets, 126 nontargets (1:3.5)(lasts ~5.5 minutes) => ~11 min on Low Frequency condition
3. High Frequency1: 162 trials with 126 targets, 36 nontargets (3.5:1)(lasts ~5.5 minutes) => ~11 min on Low Frequency condition
4. High Frequency1: 162 trials with 126 targets, 36 nontargets (3.5:1)(lasts ~5.5 minutes) => ~11 min on Low Frequency condition
Test Procedures:
1. Test purpose and instructions displayed.
1b. 2-min Practice Session begins
2. First half of the test begins.
LF ('low frequency') blocks: total of 2 blocks
2a. target/Non-target stimulus presented briefly for 100ms (~22.2% of the stimuli are targets).
2b. Awaits for user response (space bar) or terminates after 2000ms.
2c. Go to 2a until half time is reached.
HF ('high frequency') blocks: total of 2 blocks
3. Second half of the test begins (unannounced).
3a. target/Non-target stimulus presented briefly for 100ms (~77.8% of the stimuli are targets).
3b. Awaits for user response (space bar) or terminates after 2000ms.
3c. Go to 3a until half time is reached
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STIMULI
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see Greenberg et al (2016, p.16)
target tone: 392hz with 0.8amplitude for 100ms; generated in Audacity
non-target tone: 261.6hz with 1.0 amplitude for 100ms; generated in Audacity
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INSTRUCTIONS
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see section Editable Instructions
(adapted from Greenberg & Waldman, 1993)
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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:
soa: Time interval between onsets of target/non-target stimulus (in ms) (here: 2000ms)
squareSize: the size of the target/nontarget shape in canvas height percentage (default: 5%)
backgroundSize: the size of the white background in canvas height percentage (default: 50%)
/mInvalidLatency: minimum latency in ms that is considered valid and not anticipatory (default: 200)
/showPracticeFeedback: true (1): error feedback is presented during practice (default)
false (0): no feedback is provided during practice
