Participants rate pictures one at a time, e.g. how much they crave what each alcohol or soft-drink picture shows. The difference between the ratings of cue and neutral pictures is a self-report measure of cue reactivity.
Configure parameters and run an interactive preview exactly as participants will experience it. No data is recorded.
Adjust parameters below, then start the preview on the right.
Task parameters
Pictures
Shown below each picture. Leave blank to use the default question and labels, which the app shows in the participant's language. For the built-in drink pictures: the “want” item of the American Alcohol Photo Stimuli rating task and the labels at its ends (Stauffer, Dobberteen & Woolley, 2017).
A 0–100 visual analogue scale, as in Stauffer et al. (2017). The slider shows no handle until the participant first touches it, so it suggests no starting value (no published value exists for the starting position). Next confirms the rating.
Each picture is shown alone for 3000 ms; then the question and scale appear below it and the picture stays visible until the answer. Response times run from the moment the question and scale appear. Defaults: 3000 ms alone, as in the American Alcohol Photo Stimuli rating task (Stauffer et al., 2017), with the picture kept in view during the rating as in Pronk et al. (2015); no fixation cross, as none is described in that task; no pause after the answer (no published value). Random order and one rating per picture also follow Stauffer et al. (2017). 0 ms means none.
8 cue + 8 neutral pictures = 16 ratings (about 2 min). Each participant sees the pictures in a new random order.
Outputs: mean rating of category A and of B and the difference A − B (cue reactivity), the median response time, and per picture the rating and its response time from the question and scale (on the slider also the time to the first touch), the response time from the picture, and how long the picture was shown alone.
This is a researcher preview. No participant data is recorded.
Simulated participant view
Participants rate pictures one at a time, e.g. how much they crave what each alcohol or soft-drink picture shows. The difference between the ratings of cue and neutral pictures is a self-report measure of cue reactivity.
No data is recorded
One picture at a time, shown alone for 3 s; then the question and a rating scale appear below it while the picture stays in view: a 0–100 slider that shows no handle until the first touch (Next confirms the rating), or numbered buttons with 5, 7 or 9 points.
Useful in addiction, eating and health-behaviour research when the outcome is how strongly cue pictures (alcohol, cigarettes, food) evoke craving or desire compared with neutral pictures, including repeated measurement in daily life. Compared with pairs of image and slider questions, the order is randomised per participant and the time to answer each picture is recorded.
Not a diagnostic instrument, and not a measure of automatic processes: ratings are deliberate self-reports, which participants can adjust to what they think is expected. Automatic approach tendencies and attentional bias need other tasks, such as the Approach-Avoidance Task or a Stroop with cue words.
Category A holds the cue pictures, category B the neutral or control pictures. The built-in drink pictures are a demo default for piloting and teaching; for research, upload a validated picture set with matched categories (e.g. the Amsterdam Beverage Picture Set for alcoholic vs. soft drinks). The defaults follow the appetitive rating task of the American Alcohol Photo Stimuli (Stauffer, Dobberteen & Woolley, 2017): each picture alone for 3 s, then “How much do you want the drink right now?” on a 0–100 scale from “I do not want the drink at all right now” to “I really want the drink right now”. For your own pictures the default question reads “How much do you want this right now?”, with the labels “Not at all” and “Extremely”. Keep the question, the scale and its labels the same across sessions, and keep the random order unless the design needs blocks.
A positive difference means that the cue pictures were rated higher than the neutral pictures on the question asked, e.g. more craving. Ratings depend on the wording of the question, the scale and the picture set, so scores are comparable only within one version of the task. Response times describe how long a rating took; they are not a measure of automatic bias.
Add Picture Rating (cue reactivity) to your ESM study on SMAAT — free to get started.