SASHLab Stress CLI

Overview

SASHLab Stress is a collection of scripts that run common stress-inducing tasks, designed for use in psychology experiments or stress-response testing. The CLI is intended to facilitate the application of various stress protocols in a streamlined manner.

Features

The current script will run the available stress task for specified durations and save the output to an easily mungable CSV file.

Current stressors

• Mental Arithmetic Task:

  • A mental subtraction task where participants subtract digits under time pressure. Task difficulty adjusts based on streaks of correct or incorrect answers (streak length is 3).

• Negative/Neutral Speech Task:

  • A speech task where participants are asked to recall either negative or neutral experiences. The task condition (negative or neutral) is determined by the user.

Planned stressors

• Digit Span
• Nonsense Syllable

Installation

Ensure you have Python 3.12 or newer. To install the CLI, run:

pip install sashlab-stress

Usage

For the best results, ensure your terminal is pointed to the folder where you'd like participant data to be stored:

cd <path/to/your/project/data>

Run the main functionality of SASHLab Stress with default options:

sashlab_stress

Examples

• To run the mental arithmetic stress task:

    sashlab_stress --time-limit 600 --trial-time 20 --path ./data
  

• To run the negative/neutral speech task in neutral condition:

    sashlab_stress --task-type neg-neu-speech --condition 1 --time-limit 600 --path ./data
  

• To show help and view available commands:

    sashlab_stress --help
  

Options

• --task-type: The kind of task to run, either the mental subtraction task ('mental-subtraction') or the negative/neutral speech task ('neg-neu-speech').

  • Type: str
  • Default: mental-subtraction
  • Example: --task-type neg-neu-speech (runs the speech task)

• --time-limit: Set the time limit for the entire session in seconds.

  • Type: int
  • Default: 300 seconds (5 minutes)
  • Example: --time-limit 600 (Sets the session duration to 10 minutes)

• --trial-time: Specify the maximum duration allowed for each individual trial before it times out due to lack of interaction.

  • Type: int
  • Default: 15 seconds
  • Example: --trial-time 20 (Sets each trial timeout to 20 seconds)

• --path: Provide the path where session data will be saved.

  • Type: path
  • Default: Current working directory (cwd)
  • Example: --path ./data (Saves session data to a folder named "data" in the current directory)

• --condition: Set the condition for the speech task, with 0 representing negative condition and 1 representing neutral condition.

  • Type: int
  • Default: 0 (Negative condition)
  • Example: --condition 1 (Runs the task in neutral condition)

Dependencies

This project relies on the following packages:

• black (>=24.8.0): For code formatting.
• inputimeout (>=1.0.4): For handling time-based input during tasks.
• keyboard (>=0.13.5): To capture keyboard events during tasks.

All dependencies will be installed automatically with the package.

Requirements

• Python 3.12 or higher
• Operating System: OS Independent

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you have ideas for new stress tasks or improvements, feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request on the GitHub repository.

Authors

• Kevin O'Malley - kevomalley743@gmail.com
• Sandra O'Brien - sandra.obrien@ul.ie

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License