Data supplementing Einhäuser, W., Neubert, C. R., Grimm, S., & Bendixen, A. (2024). High visual salience of alert signals can lead to a counterintuitive increase of reaction times. Scientific Reports, 14, 8858.

These files supplement the publication Einhäuser, W., Neubert, C. R., Grimm, S., & Bendixen, A. (2024). High visual salience of alert signals can lead to a counterintuitive increase of reaction times. Scientific Reports, 14, 8858. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58953-4

The files data_expX.mat, where X is the experiment number (1-4), contain the data as described below. 

The files dataTraining_expX.mat contain the data of the first (training) block of each experiment. They are needed only for the supplemental material. 

To exemplify the usage, the functions figure2and3.m, figure4.m, figure5.m, figure6.m and Table1.m output the paper's figures and the data of Table 1, respectively; figureS2.m, figureS3.m, figureS4.m and figureS5.m output the figures of the supplemental material (figure S1 needs substantial amounts of external source code to compute the salience maps and is therefore not included).

data_exp1.mat contains the following variablesFor alert trials, variable of dimensions subjects x blocks x alert trials (20x10x64); note that only used participants and blocks with alert trials (2 through 11) are included in the data set:alert_aud - the salience level of the alert tone (1-8, corresponding to 54dB(A) through 89 dB(A))alert_vis - the salience level of the alert frame (1-8, corresponding to 0.10 to 8.50 Weber contrasts in logarithmic steps)alert_side - the side on which the alert frame and the tone were presented (1-left, 2-right)alert_fixOk - derived from eye movement data, was the first fixation closer to the alert square than to the center?alert_primaryRT - primary-task reaction time (for alert trials)alert_alertRT - alert-task reaction time alert_correctAlert - was the response (up/down) to the alert correct?alert_intrusionAlert - was there an intrusion (left/right pressed before up or down)?alert_correctPrimary - was the primary task conducted correctly?alert_intrusionPrimary - was there an intrusion for the primary task?alert_timeToFixation - time to first fixation on alert square alert_fixationToResp - time from beginning of fixation to response to the alert alert_fixDur - duration of first fixation after trial onset

For no-alert trials, variable of dimensions subjects x blocks x no-alert trials (20x10x448):noalert_correctPrimary - was the primary task conducted correctly?noalert_intrusionPrimary - was there an intrusion for the primary task? (i.e., up/down pressed before left/right)?

For all trials, variable of dimensions subjects x blocks x no-alert trials (20x10x512):all_correctPrimary - was the primary task conducted correctly?all_intrusionPrimary - was there an intrusion for the primary task? (i.e., up/down pressed before left/right)?all_RT - reaction time in the primary taskall_isAlertTrial - was the trial an alert trial? (useful to map no-alert trials and alert trials on all trials)

In addition, there are some raw eye movement data for the alert blocks:alert_eyeX, alert_eyeY - dimension 20 x 10 x 64 x 6000; x and y position in pixel coordinates relative to trial (and alert) onset, 1ms/sample, ends at conclusion of trials, filled up with NaN if duration was less than 6000ms alert_eyeFixX, alert_eyeFixY, alert_eyeFixTon, alert_eyeFixDur - 20 x 10 x 64 x 15; x and y position, onset (in ms relative to trial onset) and duration of fixations during the trial (from onset to primary-task response), filled with NaN when less than 15 fixations were made. Note that the first entry of alert_eyeFixDur along the forth dimension will usually equal the alert_fixDur

data_exp2.mat contains the same variables as data_exp1.mat with the following exceptions:alert_vis - contains only two levels (1 and 2) corresponding to Weber contrasts of 0.10 and 2.39, respectivelyalert_dur - the level of duration of the alert frame (1 through 8, corresponding to 25ms, 50ms, 100ms, 200ms, 300ms, 400ms, 600ms, 800ms)alert_aud is not included (all tones were at 54 dB(A))there are only 19 participants; hence the variables are of size 19 x ...note: block 8 for subject 6 contains only 450 trials (57 alert trials), the remainder is filled with NaN.

data_exp3.mat contains the same variables as data_exp1.mat with the following exceptions:alert_aud - contains only two levels (1 and 2) corresponding to sound levels of 54 dB(A) and 79 dB(A) respectivelyalert_dur - the level of duration of the alert tone (1 through 8, corresponding to 25ms, 50ms, 100ms, 200ms, 300ms, 400ms, 600ms, 800ms)alert_vis is not included (all alert frames were at 0.10 contrast)

data_exp4.mat contains the same variables as data_exp1.mat with the following exceptions:alert_aud - contains only two levels (1 and 2) corresponding to sound levels of 54 dB(A) and 79 dB(A) respectivelyalert_vis is not included and replaced byalert_condBefore - alert frame contrast level before the saccade (1 - 0.10 contrast, 2 - 2.39 contrast)alert_condAfter - alert frame contrast level after the saccade (1 - 0.10 contrast, 2 - 2.39 contrast)

dataTraining_expX.mat contains for the first (training) block of experiment X (X being 1, 2, 3 or 4) the following variables of size 20x512 (participant x trial) [19x512 in case of Experiment 2]:all_correctPrimary - was the primary task conducted correctly?all_RT - reaction time in the primary task[Note that there are no alert trials in this block and these data are only used in the supplementary material (part 4)]