An adaptive staircase procedure for the E-Prime programming environment.
Many studies need to determine a subject's threshold for a given task. This can be achieved efficiently using an adaptive staircase procedure. While the logic and algorithms for staircases have been well established, the few pre-programmed routines currently available to researchers require at least moderate programming experience to integrate into new paradigms and experimental settings. Here, we describe a freely distributed routine developed for the E-Prime programming environment that can be easily integrated into any experimental protocol with only a basic understanding of E-Prime. An example experiment (visual temporal-order-judgment task) where subjects report the order of occurrence of two circles illustrates the behavior and consistency of the routine.
Hairston
W David
WD
Human Research and Engineering Directorate, US Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005, USA. dhair@wfubmc.edu
Maldjian
Joseph A
JA
D000465:Algorithms; D001699:Biometry; D006801:Humans; D012984:Software; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis