Operation Span Task (OSPAN)
Description
Complex working memory span task that requires participants to remember letters while solving math problems.
About This Test
Participants solve math equations (e.g., '(3 * 2) + 4 = 11') and judge them as True or False, then see a letter to remember. After a series of math-letter pairs (set size 3-7), they recall the letters in order by clicking on a grid. The task includes practice blocks for letters only, math only, and combined math-letter trials. Math performance is monitored and participants must maintain 85% accuracy on math problems to ensure divided attention. The main test consists of 15 trials with varying set sizes (3, 4, 5, 6, 7) repeated 3 times each in random order.
Test Details
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Scientific Background
Original Task References:
These references describe the original task that this PEBL implementation is based on.
- Unsworth, N., Heitz, R. P., Schrock, J. C., & Engle, R. W. (2005). An automated version of the operation span task. Behavior Research Methods, 37(3), 498-505.
PEBL-Specific References:
These studies used the PEBL version of this task.
- Mueller, S. T. (2012). PEBL Operation Span Task. Computer software. http://pebl.sourceforge.net
Data Output
Creates three files: (1) ospan-<SUBNUM>.csv with trial-level recall data, (2) ospan-math-<SUBNUM>.csv with individual math problem responses and reaction times, and (3) ospan-report-<SUBNUM>.html with summary statistics and visualizations.
Example Data
example-data.csv Primary
Trial-level data with columns: subnum, trial, probtime, memtime, length, numstim, stim, resp, memcorr, time, distcorr, numcorrdist, totnumdist, runningcorrect, runningtotal
| subnum | trial | probtime | memtime | length | numstim | stim | resp | memcorr | time | distcorr | numcorrdist | totnumdist | runningcorrect | runningtotal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| example | 1 | -1 | 1000 | 2 | 3 | X|C | X|C | 1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| example | 2 | -1 | 1000 | 3 | 5 | F|X|H | F|X|H | 1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| example | 3 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | NA | 2862 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| example | 4 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | NA | 3014.5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ||
| example | 5 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | NA | 2299 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| example | 6 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | NA | 2338 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | ||
| example | 7 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | NA | 2525 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | ||
| example | 8 | 3589 | 1000 | 2 | 3 | E|N | E|N | 1 | 2841.5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 |
| example | 9 | 3589 | 1000 | 2 | 3 | V|T | V|T | 1 | 2323.5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 11 |
example-data-math.csv
Math problem data with columns: subnum, trial, mathprestime, memtime, length, numcorrdist, totnumdist, type, corr (1=correct, 0=incorrect, -1=timeout), rt (reaction time in ms)
| subnum | trial | mathprestime | memtime | length | numcorrdist | totnumdist | type | corr | rt | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| example | 3 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | D | 0 | 2862 | |
| example | 4 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | D | 1 | 2597 | |
| example | 4 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | D | 1 | 3432 | |
| example | 5 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | D | 1 | 2299 | |
| example | 6 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | D | 1 | 2185 | |
| example | 6 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | D | 1 | 2491 | |
| example | 7 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | D | 1 | 2525 | |
| example | 8 | 3589 | 1000 | 2 | 1 | 1 | D | 1 | 2709 | |
| example | 8 | 3589 | 1000 | 2 | 2 | 2 | D | 1 | 2974 |
example-data-report.html Report
HTML report with summary statistics (span score, math accuracy, test duration), performance by set size table, scoring explanation, and data file links
📊 Interactive HTML Report Preview Open in new window →
Sample data showing typical output format. Actual values will vary by participant.
About This Test
Complex working memory span task that requires participants to remember letters while solving math problems.
Category: Memory
Estimated Duration: 15 minutes
Available Translations: 7 languages
Documentation Sources:
Test description file, Test implementation, Parameter schema
Documentation Status: Standard