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Sequential Pinch Force Task (SPFT)

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Christopher J. Steele edited this page Feb 21, 2023 · 21 revisions

Overview

Description for the spft-java program and its usage spft-java

Task code and program

  • the task is distributed as a compiled java .jar file, which can be run on any computer (linux, windows, mac) with java 17
  • source code and all of the specific details for running the program can be found here: spft-java

Running an experiment

This is what you need to do when you are running a SPFT experiment in the lab!

To run a SPFT experiment with the right hand:

  1. Open the config file to check or edit the inputs.
  • You may delete or add blocks and trials to the experiment.
  • You may also edit the sequences that will be followed.
  1. Ensure that under sequences the config file says valuesLeft, as valuesRight will not work!
  • By program design, if only a single hand is used (unimanual mode) then valuesLeft is the only valid way to present sequences

Once the config file is ready to use, you have to open java (ensure that java 17 is installed):

  1. Open command prompt, type cd, and press enter

  2. Copy the address of the folder that contains the spft-1.3-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies file and press enter

  3. Type java -jar spft-1.3-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar

Once the spft-java program starts, a control window will popup:

  1. Load the config file SPFT_R_testing.yml

  2. Write the participant id and press enter

  3. Enable the left force device while keeping the right force device disabled, set the left MVC to the participant's maximum voluntary contraction (in units output from the device), and press enter

  • When testing, 5000 is a reasonable MVC value for most people to be able to control the bar

  1. Click on start

  2. For the experiment to begin, press 5

  • This is a trigger value that is used to initiate the start of the experiment and, if this is conducted within the scanner, collect the timestamp of the fMRI triggers so that the behavioural data can be synchronised with the fMRI data
  • In the config file the trigger is determined by triggers: ["5" ]

Altering the display of the bars

When running the SPFT experiment with the right hand, you might want to change the display of the bars - leaving the reference bar to the left of the participant and the force bar to the right.

To do this, you have to:

  1. Open command prompt, type cd, and press enter

  2. Copy the address of the folder that contains the spft-1.3-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies file and press enter

  3. Type java -jar spft-1.3-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar

  4. Type java -jar -Dspft.ui.bars.referenceOutside=true spft-1.3-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar

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