A note from Professor Brady: Usually we require participants to come into our lab to do a study like this. Obviously this takes time -- both for us and for you -- and it is not super pleasant to be in a small, unfamiliar room for an hour. We do this because this work is very important to us, and we really need the participants -- you! -- to try their very best. Obviously, due to the present circumstances, we now have to conduct this work online. There are clear benefits to this, since now you get to do it from your own home, but of course we are worried that people may not take it as seriously as they would in the lab. So we hope that you are willing to help us in this difficult time by taking this experiment very seriously, even though it may be somewhat repetitive and we know there are many distractions around you. We'd love if you made the experiment full screen, to reduce your temptation to look at other things, and gave it your full attention. Thank you so much, and good luck with the adaptation to online classes and online everything. We hope you stay safe and both mentally and physically well during these difficult times.
This experiment is called LTM AB.
In this experiment, you will have to remember some items and perform a simple attention task. You will need to do 10 blocks of this task, each of which takes about 2 minutes. It should take about 25 minutes total. There will be three parts to each block.
Memorization Task
In the first part of each block, you will see a series of objects that you will have to remember because you will be tested on them later. On each trial you will see an object for 3 seconds, which you should commit to memory. Here is an example of an object:
Attention Task
In the second part of each block, you will perform an attention task. In this task, you will see two targets in the center of the screen. The first target will be an object like this:
This target will be followed by a noise mask, which looks like this:
After a short blank period, the second target will appear. The second target will be a turned visual grating:
The visual grating will be turned either counterclockwise or clockwise from vertical, and will also be followed by a noise patch. At the end of each trial, you will report which of two images you saw in that trial and which direction the target was turned using the "m" and "n" keys - as outlined in the instructions that you'll see when you get to that task. You may recognize some of these objects from the first part of the experiment.
Memory Test
In the third (and final) part of each block, you will be presented with two images and asked to report which of the images was also presented in the Memorization task at the beginning of the block:
Your job is simply to report whether you saw each image in the first part of the block using the "m" and "n" keys - as outlined in the instructions that you'll see when you get to that task.
You will perform 10 blocks, which will include each of these tasks in this order. At the end of the experiment, you will be asked to answer a few demographic questions and get the opportunity to give some feedback. Thank you for participating!
Consent to Participate in Research:
By answering the following questions, you are participating in a study on cognition and perception. By participating you are confirming that you are over 18 years of age and have normal or corrected-to-normal vision. If you have questions about this research, or if you would like to receive a report of this research when it is completed, please contact Jonathan Keefe at jmkeefe@ucsd.edu. Your participation in this research is voluntary. You may decline to answer any or all of the following questions. You may decline further participation, at any time, without adverse consequences. Your anonymity is assured; the researchers who have requested your participation will not receive any personal information about you. By continuing, you are confirming that you understand these instructions and conditions of participation.
You will now see a series of 12 objects, which you should commit to memory for later test.
Each of these objects will be presented for 3 seconds. An example of 3 trials is included below.
You will now perform the attention task.
In this task, you will see two targets. Each of these targets will be followed by a noise mask.
The first target will be a real world object. The second target will be a turned visual grating.
The visual grating will be turned either counterclockwise or clockwise from vertical. Examples of each are in the figure below.
At the end of each trial, you will report which of two images you saw in that trial
and which direction the target was turned using the "m" and "n" keys.
You will now see a series of object pairs. Report which image you remember seeing
in the first part of the block, in which you were asked to memorize a series of objects.
Press the "n" key if the object is on the left, and press the "m" key if the object is on the right.
An example of 3 trials is included below.
Which image was presented on this trial?
Press the "n" for the left image and "m" for the right image.
Which direction was the visual grating turned on this trial?
Press the "n" for if it was turned counterclockwise from vertical (i.e., to the left)
and "m" if it was turned clockwise from vertical (i.e., to the right).
Which image did you see in the memorization task at the beginning of this block?
Press the "n" key if you saw the left object
and the "m" key if you saw the right object.
Please take a short break in between blocks to rest your eyes!
When you click the button to proceed, you will begin the next block.
Almost done! Just enter your demographics information here:
Age:
Gender:
Male
Female
Any feedback about the experiment or any strategies that you used?
