STEP: Tower of Hanoi [34460]

This article applies to:
E-Prime 3.0
E-Prime 1.0

 
Detail
Experiment Author: Paul F.C. Groot, FPP-ITM (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). Adapted from STEP and used with permission of Brian MacWhinney
 
Experiment Description
The Tower of Hanoi is a mathematical puzzle that tests executive functioning in participants. This is a mouse-driven version of the classic Tower of Hanoi task in which the subject is supposed to find the fastest solution (in terms of number of moves) from a given initial state.
 
Experiment Instructions
This experiment illustrates the use of multiple InLine scripts to create a variety of Tower of Hanoi scenarios. This paradigm consists of three rods and a minimum of three disks of different sizes.
 
To goal of the experiment is to transfer the disks from their starting rod positions to the position(s) needed to satisfy the finished setup displayed at the top of the screen. However, the disks are only able to be moved one at a time. Additionally, disks of a smaller size are not allowed to be placed under disks that are larger. With these rules in mind, the participant is prompted with how many moves are required to successfully end up in the displayed finished positions.
 
The experiment displays visual stimuli which is updated with each move the participant makes while it keeps the finished positions visible. If the participant makes an incorrect move at any point then they are prompted with a Feedback Display that states this. Their disks are then returned to the respective starting positions.

 
See Also:
INFO: Counterbalance Order instead of multiple experiment files [27710]
SCRIPTING: Steps for Writing E-Prime Script [22880]
SCRIPTING: Set or Reference Values in Script [22884]
Tower of London [34553]