Pseudo tasks: rest, fixation, self-report and feedback blocks

Block-level activities that serve the experiment around them rather than eliciting a process through trials: a resting block as a baseline or a reset, a fixation block that sets up a physical state, a questionnaire that collects a self-report, and feedback that tells the participant how they are performing, after a response, a block or a session. For rest, fixation and questionnaires the block’s onset, offset and instruction are what is recorded; for feedback its schedule, content, valence and modality are recorded as well. Pseudo tasks have no process links recorded at this time.

This family contains 4 tasks.

Fixate

Participant holds gaze on a fixation target for a block with nothing else to process or do; used as a baseline or control block and to limit eye movement. Engages no linked processes yet (pseudo task). 3 aliasesFixation BlockFixation BaselineCentral Fixation, no variations.

Receive Feedback

Participant is told whether a response was right or wrong, how fast it was, or what was earned, after a response, a block or a session; feedback is a pseudo task when it accompanies a task incidentally, and part of the task itself when the task is built on it. Engages no linked processes yet (pseudo task). 4 aliasesFeedback BlockPerformance FeedbackTrial FeedbackScore Screen, no variations.

Rest

Participant stays awake, still and unoccupied for a block of several minutes while spontaneous activity is recorded; the block is a baseline for task blocks or a resting-state recording in its own right. Engages no linked processes yet (pseudo task). 4 aliasesResting StateResting-State RecordingRest BlockBaseline Rest, 2 variationsEyes-Open RestEyes-Closed Rest.

Take Questionnaire

Participant reads or hears a series of questionnaire items and records a response to each; the instrument administered is a parameter of the block, not a variation. Engages no linked processes yet (pseudo task). 4 aliasesQuestionnaire BlockQuestionnaire AdministrationSelf-Report BlockSurvey, 2 variationsComputerized QuestionnaireInterviewer-Administered Questionnaire.