Stuck at the starting line: How the starting procedure influences mouse-tracking data
Stuck at the starting line: How the starting procedure influences mouse-tracking data
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DOI：
10.3758/s13428-017-0977-4
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发表时间：
2018-10-01
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Kieslich, Pascal J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Scherbaum, Stefan;Kieslich, Pascal J.
鼠标追踪是一种越来越流行的追踪认知过程的方法。就像一种新方法一样，单个研究中采用的确切方法程序仍然是相对特殊的，到目前为止，不同的方法设置对小鼠跟踪措施的影响还没有被探索。在这里，我们研究了一种常见的方法变化的影响，即参与者是否必须启动他们的鼠标运动来触发刺激呈现（动态启动条件），或者刺激是否在固定延迟后自动呈现，参与者可以自由决定何时启动他们的运动（静态启动条件）。我们比较了先前研究的数据，其中参与者在动态启动条件下执行鼠标跟踪版本的Simon任务，以及在其他相同设置中采用静态启动条件的新研究的数据。结果显示，在两种启动条件下，响应时间（RT）和离散试验水平小鼠跟踪测量（即平均偏差）的Simon效应和一致性序列效应是可靠的。相比之下，与动态启动条件相比，试验内连续测量（即提取的时间片段）在静态条件下较弱，并且以更短的时间压缩方式发生。与动态条件相比，静态条件下参与者内部和参与者之间的运动通常不太一致。我们的研究结果表明，使用试验内连续测量来评估鼠标运动的动态方面的研究应该采用动态启动程序来增强认知加工对鼠标运动的泄漏。
Mouse-tracking is an increasingly popular method to trace cognitive processes. As is common for a novel method, the exact methodological procedures employed in an individual study are still relatively idiosyncratic and the effects of different methodological setups on mouse-tracking measures have not been explored so far. Here, we study the impact of one commonly occurring methodological variation, namely whether participants have to initiate their mouse movements to trigger stimulus presentation (dynamic starting condition) or whether the stimulus is presented automatically after a fixed delay and participants can freely decide when to initiate their movements (static starting condition). We compared data from a previous study in which participants performed a mouse-tracking version of a Simon task with a dynamic starting condition to data from a new study that employed a static starting condition in an otherwise identical setup. Results showed reliable Simon effects and Congruency Sequence effects on response time (RT) and discrete trial-level mouse-tracking measures (i.e., average deviation) in both starting conditions. In contrast, within-trial continuous measures (i.e., extracted temporal segments) were weaker and occurred in a more temporally compressed way in the static compared to the dynamic starting condition. This was in line with generally less consistent movements within and across participants in the static compared to the dynamic condition. Our results suggest that studies that use within-trial continuous measures to assess dynamic aspects of mouse movements should apply dynamic starting procedures to enhance the leakage of cognitive processing into the mouse movements.