RECAPP-XPR: A smartphone application for presenting and recalling experimentally controlled stimuli over longer timescales

Abstract

We report two experiments that used smartphone applications for presenting and recalling verbal stimuli over extended timescales. In Experiment 1 , we used an iPhone application that we had developed, called RECAPP-XPR, to present 76 participants with a single list of eight words presented at a rate of one word every hour, followed by a test of free recall an hour later. The experiment was exceptionally easy to schedule, taking only between 5 and 10 min to set up using a web-based interface. RECAPP-XPR randomly samples the stimuli, presents the stimuli, and collects the free recall data. The stimuli disappear shortly after they have been presented, and RECAPP-XPR collects data on when each stimulus was viewed. In Experiment 2 , the study was replicated using the widely used image-sharing application Snapchat. A total of 197 participants were tested by 38 student experimenters, who manually presented the stimuli as “snaps” of experimentally controlled stimuli using the same experimental rates that had been used in Experiment 1 . Like all snaps, these stimuli disappeared from view after a very short interval. In both experiments, we observed significant recall advantages for the first and last list items (primacy and recency effects, respectively), and there were clear tendencies to make more transitions at output between near-neighboring items, with a forward-ordered bias, consistent with temporal contiguity effects. The respective advantages and disadvantages of RECAPP-XPR and Snapchat as experimental software packages are discussed, as is the relationship between single-study-list smartphone experiments and long-term recency studies of real-world events.

The effects of social media (Snapchat) interventions on the knowledge of oral health during pregnancy among pregnant women in Saudi Arabia

“…In fact, Snapchat has been reported to be associated with bonding between users, rather than merely socializing [ 13 ]. One important feature of Snapchat is that videos are available for a short time before disappearing [ 14 ]. Snapchat is one of the most used social media platforms in Saudi Arabia, including females, and could be used as a medium to conduct health promotional activities.…”

Introducing the Fear Learning and Anxiety Response (FLARe) app and web portal for the remote delivery of fear conditioning experiments

“…Task-specific tools are created with a specific paradigm in mind and only allow flexibility that is relevant to the task whilst implementing control over important experimental parameters (e.g. SMARTA [Subject-Mediated Automatic Remote Testing Apparatus], RECAPP-XPR; Cortis Mack et al, 2019 ; Vagell et al, 2019 ). A key strength of non-specific tools is their flexibility, which allows adaptation of almost any experimental task into an easily deliverable online format.…”

Introducing the Fear Learning and Anxiety Response (FLARe) app and web portal for the remote delivery of fear conditioning experiments

“…Task-specific tools are created with a specific paradigm in mind and only allow flexibility that is relevant to the task whilst implementing control over important experimental parameters (e.g. SMARTA, RECAPP-XPR; Cortis Mack, Harding, Davies, & Ward, 2019;Vagell, Vagell, Jacobs, Gordon, & Baden, 2019).…”