Comparing random dot motion in MATLAB vs. Inquisit Millisecond

Abstract

Random Dot Motion (RDM) displays refer to clouds of independently moving dots that can be parametrically manipulated to provide a perception of the overall cloud moving coherently in a specified direction of motion. As a well-studied probe of motion perception, RDMs have been widely employed to understand underlying neural mechanisms of motion perception, perceptual decision-making, and perceptual learning, among other processes. Despite their wide use, RDM stimuli implementation is highly dependent on the parameters and the generation algorithm of the stimuli; both can greatly influence behavioral performance on RDM tasks. With the advent of the COVID pandemic and an increased need for more accessible platforms, we aimed to validate a novel RDM paradigm on Inquisit Millisecond, a platform for the online administration of cognitive and neuropsychological tests and assessments. We directly compared, in the same participants using the same display, a novel RDM paradigm on both Inquisit Millisecond and MATLAB with Psychtoolbox. We found that psychometric functions of Coherence largely match between Inquisit Millisecond and MATLAB, as do the effects of Duration. These data demonstrate that the Millisecond RDM provides data largely consistent with those previously found in laboratory-based systems, and the present findings can serve as a reference point for expected thresholds for when these procedures are used remotely on different platforms.

PLFest: A new platform for accessible, reproducible and open perceptual learning research

“…The development of PLFest builds upon other developments cropping out from the COVID-19 pandemic emphasizing the need for reliable and remote testing platforms worldwide (Collins et al, 2022;Yaghoubi et al, 2022) and telehealth approaches more generally. This has led our research group to develop several tools to measure several different auditory (Lelo de Larrea-Mancera et al, 2020) and cognitive functions (Pahor et al, 2019(Pahor et al, , 2022 on tablet-based devices that are reliable and portable to reach more diverse populations and adequately support comparisons across different approaches developed by different research groups.…”