PEBL Hub — IRB Fact Sheet — 2026-08-23
Four-Choice Serial Response Time
Category:Processing Speed
Duration:~4 minutes
Parameters:8 configurable parameters available
Version:0.2
Input:Keyboard
Description
A four-choice serial reaction time task from the UTC test battery (Wilkinson & Houghton, 1975). A plus sign appears in one of four screen quadrants, and participants press the corresponding key as quickly as possible. Optional auditory feedback for lapses.
Notes
- Part of the Unified Tri-Services Cognitive Performance Assessment Battery
Key Parameters
| usesound | Use sound feedback (default: 1) |
| numtrials | Number of trials (default: 50) |
| isi | Inter-stimulus interval in milliseconds (default: 200) |
| responsetype | Response type (0=participant choice; 1=specified keys (fjvn); 2= keypad 4512) (default: 0) |
| key1 | Response key 1 (default: F) |
| key2 | Response key 2 (default: J) |
| key3 | Response key 3 (default: V) |
| key4 | Response key 4 (default: N) |
Example Data Output (5 sample rows)
| subnum | resptype | isi | trial | sound | resp | quad | leftright | updown | respquad | corr | lapse | rt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| oeau | 2 | 200 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | left | bottom | 3 | 1 | 0 | 95 |
| oeau | 2 | 200 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | right | top | 2 | 1 | 0 | 910 |
| oeau | 2 | 200 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | right | bottom | 4 | 1 | 0 | 507 |
| oeau | 2 | 200 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | left | bottom | 3 | 1 | 0 | 398 |
| oeau | 2 | 200 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | right | bottom | 4 | 1 | 0 | 435 |
References
Wilkinson, R. T., & Houghton, D. (1975). Portable four-choice reaction time test with magnetic tape memory. Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation, 7(5), 441-446.
Perez, W. A., Masline, P. J., Ramsey, E. G., & Urban, K. E. (1984). Unified Tri-Services Cognitive Performance Assessment Battery: Review and methodology (DTIC Document ADA181697).