Summary
Cue presentation is followed by a delay and then multiple identical response stimuli. The subject must match (or, optionally, non-match) the location of the cue. Success is rewarded; failure and omissions are punished.
Configuring the task
Main configuration:
The task proceeds through the configured stages in order. Stage configuration:
Some less obvious settings:
| • | Cue draw-without-replacement (DWOR) multiplier. Cue locations are drawn from the available locations (where, in the results, 0 is the first possible location, 1 the second, and so on). If the DWOR multiplier is n, then n copies of each location are placed in a vector that's shuffled, and cue locations for successive trials are drawn from it sequentially. When it's empty, the vector is refilled. Choose 1 to have every location appear once in every n trials; larger multipliers approximate true randomness. See Draw without replacement. |
| • | Stimulus options, for cue and response stimuli, are configured in the normal way; see Choosing stimuli. |
| • | Location options are configured in the normal way; see Locations. |
| • | Cue disappears when touched (and delay starts immediately): note that this is incompatible with Punish cue touches during cue. |
| • | Correction procedure. If enabled, you specify a start condition: the correction procedure starts when the subject makes n responses to a single location out of the last x trials (where n <= x) (and ignoring any previous trials that were themselves part of a correction procedure). We refer to this location as its "preferred" location; the point of the correction procedure is to reduce this preference. You also specify a stop criterion: the number of consecutive correct responses required, within the current correction procedure. During the correction procedure, if you are using the "matching" task, the cue is placed anywhere but the subject's preferred location (to encourage the subject to respond elsewhere). [Internally: cue locations are drawn as usual, but discarded if they match the subject's preferred location, until a non-preferred location is drawn.] If you are using the "non-matching" task, the cue is always placed at the subject's preferred location, because a correct response therefore involves responding at a non-preferred location. |
The standard Marker 1 sound is played when the cue starts. The Marker 2 sound is played when response options are offered. These and the reward and punishment settings are configured in the General Parameters.