Need a Cognitive Psychology Task? You’ve Come to The Right Place!
Python Tasks
These are the tasks I made in Visual Studio using Python code. I recommend installing visual studio and using Stack Overflow for advice. I also designed these tasks to use a Customized Bluetooth Number Pad that I colored for easier access and instructions. Python has its benefits as it is much more customizable than Psytoolkit and quicker, but Psytoolkit is just more encompassing. Patchwriting the code below is the best way to edit it.
This link contains a Facial Emotion Recognition Task. A task designed to assess bias in emotional processing using different facial expressions with several other faces. This task asks you to sort faces into different emotional categories. Reaction time and accuracy are both assessed. This task was designed with a colored Bluetooth number pad in mind.
This link contains a Reaction Time Instrument for Depression. A task designed to assess bias in emotional word processing. This task asks you to sort between real and fake words while evaluating the reaction time to words with a negative emotional connotation.
This link contains a Drug Stroop Task. A task designed to measure bias and preoccupation with terms that are related to substances and substance use. This one also includes three separate ‘control’ conditions. Congruent and incongruent (from the standard Stroop) and neutral terms (unrelated to drugs).
More tasks to come…
Psytookit Tasks
Psytoolkit is an incredible website created by Professor Gijsbert Stoet. This website allows you to develop experiments using very easy-to-learn yet customizable psychological tasks. The website offers around 50 pre-made experiments, and you can also create your own tasks. I am including the functions I made here for anyone interested in using them. I’d say I prefer Psytoolkit to Python code, as it's much easier and doesn't require importing a GUI like Python. But Psytoolkit is not compatible with the Bluetooth number pads I prefer for tasks.
FERT. This is likely more accessible than the Python FERT, as it does not require the aforementioned wireless Bluetooth number pad. Instead using the number keys on a traditional keyboard.
RTID. A task designed to assess bias in emotional word processing. This task asks you to sort between real and fake words while evaluating the reaction time to words with a negative emotional connotation.
Libido Lexical Decision Task Priming Tasks. These tasks require some explanations. This task came from Dr. Stephanie Cacioppo’s early research (Ortigue et al., 2008), where she would show two names, one name with emotional significance (the name of a partner or spouse) and one control name. She then had the subjects perform a lexical decision task and found that the subjects responded faster to the emotionally salient name. I tried to replicate this study, but instead of using the specific names, I used a photo of an attractive male or female. I also conducted a control study using a neutral image as the control condition. There are, of course, issues with these studies as beauty standards are culturally defined, and that means that not everyone will find the photos I used to be attractive, but this should be generalizable enough. I first read about this study in the book Wired For Love (2022), which I highly recommend. Here are the tasks: Attractivemale, Attractivefemale, neutralimage.
More tasks to come…
About The Page Designer, Ty DiPonzio
Ty DiPonzio is a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Student at the University of Rochester. His career aspirations are to work as a Forensic Psychologist, Psychotherapist, and Adjunct Faculty Professor. His research interests are centered on Cognitive Performance across psychological tasks in different psychopathologies and on how these tasks can be used to measure and assess diagnoses, track improvement, predict treatment response, and predict future behavior relevant to Forensic Psychology examinations.
Ty graduated Cum Laude from The State University of New York at Geneseo. He joined both Psi Chi and Nu Rho Psi, honor societies for Psychology and Neuroscience, respectively.
Ty is currently a Research Assistant for the Deep Structure in New York Lab (DeStiNY Lab). Here, he has worked on literature reviews, provided peer review feedback, and is currently designing a research project that will act as his Master's Thesis.
After Ty earns his Master’s Degree, he plans to pursue a PhD in Counseling Psychology, Clinical Psychology, or Behavioral Neuroscience to provide expert testimony as a Board Certified Forensic Psychologist and to practice as a psychotherapist.
Ty is an avid reader with his favorite authors being Dr. Oliver Sacks, Dr. David Nutt, Dr. David Eagleman, Kurt Vonnegut, and Aldous Huxley.
Further Reading Regarding Tasks
FERT:
Daros, A. R., Zakzanis, K. K., & Ruocco, A. C. (2013). Facial emotion recognition in borderline personality disorder. Psychological medicine, 43(9), 1953–1963. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291712002607
Krause, F. C., Linardatos, E., Fresco, D. M., & Moore, M. T. (2021). Facial emotion recognition in major depressive disorder: A meta-analytic review. Journal of affective disorders, 293, 320–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.053
Streit, M., Ioannides, A. A., Liu, L., Wölwer, W., Dammers, J., Gross, J., Gaebel, W., & Müller-Gärtner, H. W. (1999). Neurophysiological correlates of the recognition of facial expressions of emotion as revealed by magnetoencephalography. Brain research. Cognitive brain research, 7(4), 481–491. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0926-6410(98)00048-2
Wrege, J. S., Ruocco, A. C., Carcone, D., Lang, U. E., Lee, A. C. H., & Walter, M. (2021). Facial Emotion Perception in Borderline Personality Disorder: Differential Neural Activation to Ambiguous and Threatening Expressions and Links to Impairments in Self and Interpersonal Functioning. Journal of Affective Disorders, 284, 126–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.042
Zhang, B., Shen, C., Zhu, Q., Ma, G., & Wang, W. (2016). Processing of facial expressions of emotions in Antisocial, Narcissistic, and Schizotypal personality disorders: An event-related potential study. Personality and Individual Differences, 99, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.04.066
Drug Stroop:
Carpenter, K. M., Schreiber, E., Church, S., & McDowell, D. (2006). Drug Stroop performance: relationships with primary substance of use and treatment outcome in a drug-dependent outpatient sample. Addictive behaviors, 31(1), 174–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.04.012
DeVito, E. E., Kiluk, B. D., Nich, C., Mouratidis, M., & Carroll, K. M. (2018). Drug Stroop: Mechanisms of response to computerized cognitive behavioral therapy for cocaine dependence in a randomized clinical trial. Drug and alcohol dependence, 183, 162–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.10.022
Libido Lexical Decision:
Ortigue, S., Bianchi-Demicheli, F., Hamilton, A. F., & Grafton, S. T. (2007). The neural basis of love as a subliminal prime: an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 19(7), 1218–1230. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2007.19.7.1218
Cacioppo, S. (2022) Wired For Love. Flat Iron Books.