Parallel Episodic Processing (PEP) Model
Version 1.2.1


Beta notes:
This beta version of PEP version 1.2.0 takes advantage of multiprocessor system
capabilities by using multithreading. This version is probably inefficient on
systems with anything less than quad core. The number of threads can be set in
the maxThreads variable in the Main method. This number shouldn't exceed the
number of processors (or processors x 2 with hyper-threading processors like Intel
i7), less at least one for other system processes.

SOURCE FILES

Source files are formatted with four tab-delimited columns of integers (0 to n-1).
These columns, in order, represent:
(1) correct response - technically, this should always be exactly the same as the
     value in the targets column, unless other changes have been made to the
     model to allow for something other than 1-to-1 colour-response mappings
(2) targets
(3) distracters - muliple distracting columns possible
(4) condition - multiple condition columns possible


MAIN.JAVA VARIABLES

To change from the high to low PC run, all that needs to be changed is the
"source" name: "hHighPC.txt" for the former and "hLowPC.txt" for the latter. Other
variables can be changed to simulate other paradigms. All of these variables are
set in the "VARIABLES" section of Main.java. Some key ones are:

(1) source (String) - Filename where condition information is saved
     (hHighPC.txt and hLowPC.txt are included with the download)
(2) numSubjects (integer) - Number of "subjects" to run (default = 1000)
(3) numBlocks (integer) - Number of blocks per subject
(4) numResponses (integer) - Number of responses (normally the same as numColours)
(5) numTargets (integer) - Number of colours
(6) numDistracters (integer) - Number of words
(7) isConflict (boolean) - Determines whether words conflict (true) or do not
     conflict (false)
(8) nPerVar (integer) - Number of conditions (multiple variables possible)

Below are the values used for the simulation:

High PC:
 source = new String("hHighPC.txt");

Low PC:
 source = new String("hLowPC.txt");

Both:
 numSubjects = 1000;
 numBlocks = 1;
 numResponses = 6;
 numTargets = 6;
 numDistracters = {6};
 isConflict = true;
 numPerVar = {2,2,2};

The other varialbes in the VARIABLES section can be ignored. Some of these are
default parameters that shouldn't be changed. Others are for coding for unrelated
effects in different paradigms.


RUNNING A SIMULATION

After setting your variables in Main.java, you can run the main project. You
should be using a software development kit (SDK), such as the Java Development
Kit (JDK), and an integrated development environment (IDE), such as NetBeans.
It is important that your source file is with your java class files so that the
compiler can find the trials that it will present to the model. Running the
project will cause the model to simulate all participants with a different random
trial order. The model will also create a tab-delimited text file called
Means.txt that will contain the mean response time and percentage error for each
participant in each condition. This is created by DataAnalysis.java and can be
run independently of the rest of the model. New to Version 1.2.0, the model also
produces a large Dataset.txt file with full datasets of all participants
concatenated together. This method also codes for previous RT and previous
accuracy. Note that any simulation results that you want to keep should be removed
from your source folder before starting a new simulation run, as new datafiles will
overwrite old ones.