Scripts

Backward Digit Span

DemoRepo

Backward digit span is a classic assessment of working memory. Participants are given a string of digits and must recall them in reverse order. This script is quite flexible. Users are easily able to modify the modality (spoken or printed digits), the number of trials, the starting digit span etc. The script is also adaptive, using a 1:2 staircase procedure. This means that the span increases by one whenever a participant is correct, and the span decreases by one whenever a participant is incorrect two trials in a row. Typical administration takes 8-10 minutes.

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Forward Digit Span

DemoRepo

Forward digit span (often just called digit span) is a common assessment of short-term memory. Participants are given a string of digits and must recall them in the same order in which they were presented. This script is quite flexible. Users are easily able to modify the modality (spoken or printed digits), the number of trials, the starting digit span etc. The script is also adaptive, using a 1:2 staircase procedure. This means that the span increases by one whenever a participant is correct, and the span decreases by one whenever a participant is incorrect two trials in a row. Typical administration takes 8-10 minutes.

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Auditory N-Back

DemoRepo

In the Auditory N-Back, participants are presented a sequence of auditory stimuli one-by-one. For each stimulus, they need to decide if the current stimulus is the same as the one presented N trials ago. The N can be 1 trials, 2 trials, 3 trials, etc. The higher the number, the more difficult the task. The factors that seem to influence the performance are not only the N, but also the speed of presentation and the size of the set of stimuli. This script is highly customizable; you can change the levels of N, the types of sounds used, the number of trials, the relative ratio of target and non targets etc. Typical administration takes 10-15 minutes.

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Reading Span

DemoRepo

In this Automated Reading Span Task, participants must perform two interleaved tasks. The first is reading a sentence and determining whether or not it makes sense (e.g., "He takes his coffee with sugar and [cream / concrete]."). The second is a letter memorization task. On each trial, participants complete anywhere between three and seven iterations of this sentence judgment/letter memorization script. At the end of each trial, participants must report the letters in the exact order in which they appeared. Typical administration takes 15-20 minutes.

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Attention Network Test

DemoRepo

Adapted from Fan et al. (2002) J Cog Neurosci. The Attention Network Test combines flanker and cueing paradigms to assess different networks of attention (alerting, orienting, executive). Participants must respond to the direction of a middle arrow, which can be flanked by congruent or incongruent arrows. Prior to this arrow-judgment task, a cue (*) may appear, and may indicate the spatial location of the upcoming arrows. This particular administration is based on the ANT as reported by Berman et al. (2008) Psychol SciTypical administration takes 15-20 minutes.

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Sentence Repetition Task

DemoRepo

The Sentence Repetition Test (SRT), also known as the Sentence Memory Test, involves repeating (in this case, typing) back speech tokens of increasing numbers of syllables. The test starts with just a single syllable ('look') and progresses to 26 syllables. The typical scoring is the maximum syllable length able to be successfully recalled. I have also coded the proportion of correctly identified words as a secondary measure. The SRT taps linguistic knowledge and working memory. Typical administration takes 10 minutes.

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Matrix Reasoning

DemoRepo

This is a matrix reasoning task, similar to the popular Raven's Progressive Matrices. This version, however, is not proprietary. The stimuli are taken from Matzen et al. (2010) (Behavioral Research Methods). On each trial, participants see a matrix pattern with the bottom right portion missing. Participants then must decide which of eight provided options best completes the pattern. There are 42 items. You can change a single variable (shortForm in matrices.js) to make a "short form" version (21 items) if desired. There are several different subtypes of stimuli (e.g., logical relation, one-dimension, two-dimension, three-dimension). Typical administration takes 40-60 minutes for the full version and 20-30 minutes for the short form version.

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Pitch Adjustment

DemoRepo

The pitch adjustment task is a sound reproduction task that has been used as an assessment of auditory working memory precision (e.g., Van Hedger et al., 2015 Cognition). On each trial, participants hear a brief target tone, which is immediately masked by noise. Participant are then given a starting tone - higher or lower than the initial target tone. Participants must adjust this starting tone, using arrows provided on the screen, to try and recreate the initial targert tone to the best of their ability. Full administration takes 20-30 minutes. The quick assessment (simply swtich quickAssessment in pitchadjust.js to 1) takes 10-20 minutes.

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Multiple Object Tracking

DemoRepo

This multiple object tracking (MOT) study assesses visual attention. On each trial, participants see an array of eight dots. Depending on the trial, two or three of these dots briefly flash, and then all eight dots start moving. Participants must track the dots that flashed to the best of their ability and identify them at the end of the trial. The task also includes an interactive instructions / practice, and takes 15-20 minutes.

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Simon Memory Game

DemoRepo

This is a jsPsych version of the popular "Simon" memory game. Each game begins with a single button that lights up, accompanied by a sound. If participants correctly repeat this button, the next trial adds an additional button/tone. Items are continually appended to the end of the sequence until a participant makes a mistake. At this point, the game is over and a new game begins. The script is easily customizable (e.g., changing the number of games, swapping the sounds used in the sequences). At the end of the script, participants are given feedback about their performance. Note: I am extremely indebted to freeCodeCamp for providing the foundations of this project - in particular, the CSS for creating the Simon board.

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Color Change Detection Task

DemoRepo

This is a jsPsych version of the color change detection task, originally programmed in Matlab and hosted on the Awh/Vogel GitHub page. On each trial, colored squares (currently programmed to be either 3, 4, or 5) briefly appear within a window on the screen. Then, following a retention interval, participants are given a single probe square. The probe square always takes the position of one of the squares from the first display; however, it can either be presented in the same or different color. Participants then make a forced-choice judgment as to whether the color is the same or different. Several parameters (e.g., piloting mode, number of squares, retention interval, window size) are easily customizable. Thank you to the Awh/Vogel lab for posting the source code in Matlab!

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