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PSYCHEXP
TUTORIAL

Sequential Priming Task Fully Customizable
Build a Sequential Priming Task in 30 seconds step 1

STEP 1

In this tutorial we will be adding a Sequential Priming Task to a Psychexp project.

Let us begin by firstly logging in to psychexp and then select "Add New Project" from the menu.

Enter a project name and click submit. (We will call our project "PROJECT 1")

STEP 2

You will be returned to the dashboard, so then find the project you just created in the project list and click "Open".

Build a Sequential Priming Task in 30 seconds step 2
Build a Sequential Priming Task in 30 seconds step 3

STEP 3

You are now on the project home page, so click on the "Edit Project" button from the side menu.

STEP 4

When you first create a project in Psychexp a block with one single choice question is inserted by default.

We are going to add the Sequential Priming Task below this default block by simply clicking the "ADD EXPERIMENT" button and selecting "SEQUENTIAL PRIMING TASK" from the list that is displayed.

Build a Sequential Priming Task in 30 seconds step 4
Build a Sequential Priming Task in 30 seconds step 5

STEP 5

A fully functional Sequential Priming Task has now been inserted.

Let's take a look at the structure of the default experiment, and then see how you can customize it to make it your own.

The entire experiment is housed inside of a single block named "Default Block". You can change the name of the block by clicking on the edit (pencil) icon next to the block name.

By clicking on the experiment block settings (cog) icon, you can make changes to the following settings of the experiment;

  • Left Key
  • Right Key
  • Left Target Name
  • Right Target Name
  • Image Height [pixels]
  • Stimulus Font Size
  • Font Color [Hexadecimal]
  • Background Color [Hexadecimal]
  • Display Result Page

Next you will see a text only information page that is shown to the participant before the experiment begins. This page is fully customizable by clicking the edit (pencil) icon. You can also add extra pages by clicking the "Add Text Only Page" Button.

Following the information page there are five sections. These five sections include all the components that will be used to build the flow of the experiment.

  • TARGET CATEGORIES: You can add as many text or image stimulus as you require to the target category. Select which target type the category belongs to by selecting it from the dropdown list. There are two target types. The first is the LEFT TARGET NAME and the second is the RIGHT TARGET NAME. These represent the category names shown at the top left and right of the screen during the experiment.
  • PRIME CATEGORIES: You can add as many text or image stimulus as you require to the prime category.
  • MESSAGES: You can create as many messages as is required. These messages will be displayed to the participant during the experiment. At what point they will be displayed during the expeirment is set in the FLOW SECTION explained below.
  • FIXATION POINT: The fixation point is displayed prior to the prime being shown (optional). You can add as many text or image fixation points as you wish here and then allocate them in the FLOW SECTION explained below.
  • MASK: The mask is displayed prior to the target being shown (optional). You can add as many text or image masks as you wish here and then allocate them in the FLOW SECTION explained below.

STEP 6

Now we will look at the flow of the Sequential Priming Task. The flow comprises of Flow blocks and sub-flow blocks. The sub-flow blocks within a flow block can be randomized by clicking the Flow Block settings (cog) icon.

You can add as many blocks or sub-flow blocks as you wish to create your desired experiment.

The sub-flow block contains the following components.

  • Start Message: The start message is shown at the start of the sub-flow block prior to any trials being displayed. (optional)
  • Multiple trials: The contents of each trial is explained in detail below.
  • End Message: The end message is shown at the end of the sub-flow block after all trials have been displayed. (optional)

Each trial displays the following components in the order shown below.

  • Fixation Point: Set the number of milliseconds to display by clicking the settings (cog) icon.
  • Prime: Set the number of milliseconds to display by clicking the settings (cog) icon.
  • Mask: Set the number of milliseconds to display by clicking the settings (cog) icon.
  • Target: Set the number of milliseconds to display by clicking the settings (cog) icon.

If you wish you can choose not to display a fixation point or mask by setting the dropdown to "NONE" and then change the number of milliseconds to zero by clicking the settings (cog) icon.

Each set of "PRIME CATEGORY" x "TARGET CATEGORY" that you set will randomly display all possible combinations of each target stimulus in the target category paired against each prime stimulus in the prime category. (Example: 2 prime stimulus x 2 target stimulus = 4 combinations).

By clicking the sub-flow block settings (cog) icon, you can change the following settings.

  • Practice: Unchecking this box will make the trial group a test. Only test trials are included in the calculation of the category average in the dataset.
  • Interstimulus interval (ms): This is the number of millseconds a blank interval is displayed prior to each fixation point being displayed.
  • Feedback interval (ms): The feedback interval sets the length of time a red cross or green circle is displayed to let the respondent know if they got the answer correct or not. Setting this to zero will stop any feedback from being displayed.

After you have made changes to the default experiment, you can see a live preview of the experiment by clicking the "Preview" button at the bottom of the page. You can preview the project as many times as you want. The preview screens are identical to the screens your participants will see when you distribute your project, however the data from a preview is not saved in the dataset.

Build a Sequential Priming Task in 30 seconds step 6

STEP 7

Once you are happy with the design of your experiment you can then adjust the flow of your entire project by editing or deleting the default survey question block that was inserted when you initially made the project. You can also add more survey question blocks or even other experiment blocks under your current experiment by simply clicking on the "ADD BLOCK" or "ADD EXPERIMENT" buttons at the bottom of the page. The combination of experiments and survey questions that you can achieve is only limited by your own imagination!

PRO TIP: Changing the order of the flow of survey question blocks and experiment blocks in your project is as easy as using the up and down arrow buttons that can be found at the top of each survey question or experiment block.

Before distributing your project to your participants be sure to adjust the project settings by clicking on "Project Settings" in the menu.

These are just a few of the many settings you can adjust:

  • Single or multiple time project participation
  • Require email registration
  • Set start and finish dates for participation
  • Record geolocation
  • Registration page logo
Build a Sequential Priming Task in 30 seconds step 8
Build a Sequential Priming Task in 30 seconds step 9

STEP 8

When you are ready to distribute your project to your participants, click on "QR code" in the menu to get the URL link or QR code for this project.

PRO TIP: Once a participant has responded to your survey or experiment, you are no longer able to make changes to the project in the "Edit Project" screen. Use the project "PREVIEW" button extensively to check your project prior to distributing it to any participants.

To view the data collected from your participants, click on "Dataset" in the menu.

The dataset will be downloaded in excel format.

The default procedure for the Sequential Priming task refers to the following paper. However, since the categories (blacks and whites), used as the target in this paper, contains sensitive racial issues, the default experiment has been changed to include the biological categories (flowers and insects). In addition, partial changes have been made to such as the number of trials and assignment structure.
Fazio, R.H., Jackson, J.R. Dunton, B.C. & Williams, C.J. (1995). Variability in automatic activation as an unobtrusive measure of racial attitudes: A bona fide pipeline? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1013-1027.