Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Created: January 12, 2015
Last Modified: January 19, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements the revised Attention Network Test (ANT-R); a behavioral measure of alerting, orienting and executive attention. The revised ANT paradigm expands the original ANT by providing additional conditions that allow the study of the relationship amongst the three attention networks in more detail. The implemented procedure is based on Fan et al (2009). This script has been adapted to use mouse input instead of keyboard input in order to collect continuous mouse movements for mouse tracking (every 6-7ms), similarly to Yamauhi et al (2019).
The original ANT-R (e-prime, version 1) can be downloaded at: https://people.qc.cuny.edu/Faculty/Jin.Fan/Pages/Downloads.aspx
Fan, J., Gu, X., Guise, K.G., Liu, X., Fossella, J., Wang, H. & Posner, M.I. (2009). Testing the behavioral interaction and integration of attentional networks. Brain and Cognition, 70, 209-220.
Yamauhi, T., Leontyev, A., & Razavi, M. (2019). Mouse Tracking Measures Reveal Cognitive Conflicts Better than Response Time and accuracy Measures. In A.K. Goel, C.M. Seifert, & C. Freksa (Eds.), Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 3150-3156). Montreal, QB: Cognitive Science Society.
30 minutes
Participants are presented arrows either to the left or right to a fixation cross. Arrows may be flanked by other stimuli (3 flanker conditions). Participants have to decide whether the arrows point right or left. Several cue conditions (6) (may) alert the participants that the targets are about to come on screen and potentially where on the screen (above or below the fixation cross). Once the targets come on screen, participants are asked to move the mouse as fast as possible to the left and right response buttons at the top of the screen.
Differences in mean reaction times in the different cue/flanker conditions can be used to calculate several Attentional Network Effects.
"6"* cue conditions (no cue, double cue, invalid spatial cue, valid spatial cue) x 3 cue target ISI (0, 400, 800ms) x 2 flanker congruence (congruent, incongruent) x 2 location congruence (position and direction of target are congruent, incongruent)
within-subjects design
• valid spatial cue trials are 1/2 of all the trials => valid spatial cue condition is treated as "3" conditions instead of just 1
A) Practice
Practice is run by script antRpracticemousetracking.iqjs
B) 4 Blocks of 72 trial sequences each - no feedback (2 blocks use the same predetermined sequence, then they get repeated)
- 12 noCue; 12 doubleCue; 12 invalid spatial cue; 36 valid spatial cues trials per block
the valid spatial cue condition is split into 3 identical ones of 12 trials (=> for balancing purposes there are 6 cue types)
- conditions are counterbalanced across 2 blocks (144 trials)
=> 3 Cue-Target ISI x 6 cue conditions (no cue, double cue, invalid spatial cue, 3*valid spatial cue) x 2 flanker conditions (congruent, incongruent) x 2 target position (left, right to fixation) x 2 target directions (arrow points right, left)
TRIAL SEQUENCE (one sequence for each cue condition) - order is predetermined
-> trialStart: press 'next' button
-> upon clicking the next button, a fixation cross as well as the left and right presentation boxes are presented for
a variable duration (duration is randomly sampled from an exponential distribution with mean = 4000ms;
the durations are kept between 2000 - 12000ms)
-> cue (100ms) -> random cue-target ISI (0, 400ms, 800ms)
-> target, flanker (500ms duration for target)-> until response ( timeout was removed for mouse tracking script)
-> trialStart: press 'next' button
-> etc.
the mouse cursor is forced on the center coordinates of the next button at time of
target presentation. Thus, all participants start out at the same cursor position.
! this script uses the predetermined trialsequences used in the original e-prime program
(https://people.qc.cuny.edu/Faculty/Jin.Fan/Pages/Downloads.aspx)
A) black rectangles on gray blackground to the left and right side of a fixation cross.
cues: one or both (or none) of these rectangles turns white for a brief amount of time
target/flanker: 5 black arrows presented in the center of the black rectangles
arrows are presented as images and can be exchanged under section EDITABLE STIMULI
B) Size of Stimuli:
Fan et al (2009) give specific dimensions of the size and distance of targets/flankers (p.211)
This script does NOT attempt to replicate these dimensions as different monitors require different fontsizes etc.
Fine-tune sizes of stimuli, distance of flanker to target, and position of target left and right to
fixation cross under section EDITABLE values
Furthermore, the canvaswindow can be specified under section DEFAULTS
Instructions are modelled after the instructions in the original e-prime program
at: https://people.qc.cuny.edu/Faculty/Jin.Fan/Pages/Downloads.aspx
See script 'ant_r_mousetracking_instructions_inc.iqjs'
File Name: ant_r_mousetracking_summary*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| inquisit.version | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| computer.touch | 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities |
| computer.hasKeyboard | 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected |
| startDate | Date the session was run |
| startTime | Time the session was run |
| subjectId | Participant ID |
| groupId | Group number |
| sessionId | Session number |
| elapsedTime | Session duration in ms |
| completed | 0 = Test was not completed 1 = Test was completed |
| minValidLatency | Minimum response latency (in ms) that is considered valid and not anticipatory (default: 0) - parameter |
| trialCount | Counts the number of trials run, across testblocks |
| overallPropCorrect | Total percent correct; across testblocks |
| meanRT | Mean response latency (in ms) of correct and valid responses across testblocks |
| stdR | Standard deviation of latencies of correct and valid responses across testblocks |
| alertingRT | Rtno-cue - rtdouble-cue (Alerting Effect) |
| validityEffectRT | Rtinvalid cue - rtvalid cue (Orienting Effect) |
| movingEngagingRT | Rtdouble-cue - rtvalid cue (Orienting Effect) |
| disengagingRT | Rtinvalid cue - rtdouble-cue (Orienting Effect) |
| orientingTimeRT | (rtvalid cue, 0 ms cue-to-targetinterval) - (rtvalid cue, 800 ms cue-to-target interval) (Orienting Effect) |
| flankerConflictEffectRT | Rtflanker incongruent - rtflanker congruent (Conflict (Cost) Effect) |
| locationConflictEffectRT | Rtlocation incongruent - rtlocation congruent (Conflict (Cost) Effect) |
| flankerByLocationRT | (rtflanker incongruent; location incongruent - rtflanker congruent; location incongruent) - (rtflanker incongruent; location congruent- rtflanker congruent; location congruent) |
| alertingByFlankerConflictRT | (rtno-cue, flanker incongruent - rtno-cue, flanker congruent) - (rtdouble-cue, flanker incongruent - rtdouble-cue, flankercongruent) |
| orientingByFlankerConflictRT | (rtdouble-cue, flanker incongruent - rtdouble-cue, flanker congruent) - (rtvalid cue, flanker incongruent - rtvalid cue, flanker congruent) |
| validityByFlankerConflictRT | (rtinvalid cue, flanker incongruent -rtinvalid cue, flanker congruent) - (rtvalid cue, flanker incongruent - rt valid cue, flanker congruent) |
| alertingByLocationConflictRT | (rtno-cue, location incongruent - rtno-cue,location congruent) - (rtdouble-cue, location incongruent - rtdouble-cue, location congruent) |
| orientingByLocationConflictRT | (rtdouble-cue, location incongruent - rtdouble-cue, location congruent) - (rtvalid cue, location incongruent - rtvalid cue, location congruent) |
| validityByLocationConflictRT | (rtinvalid cue, location incongruent - rtinvalid cue, location congruent) - (rtvalid cue, location incongruent - rtvalid cue, location congruent) neg: more efficient location conflict processing pos: less efficient location conflict processing because of invalid orienting |
| iorEffectRT | The inhibition of return (IOR) effectRT: (rtinvalid cue, 0 ms cue-to-target interval - rtvalid cue, 0 ms cue-to-targetinterval) - (rtinvalid cue, 400 ms cue-to-target interval - rt valid cue, 400 ms cue-to-target interval) |
| alertingAcc | PropCorrectno-cue - propCorrectdouble-cue (Alerting Effect) |
| validityEffectAcc | PropCorrectinvalid cue - propCorrectvalid cue (Orienting Effect) |
| movingEngagingAcc | PropCorrectdouble-cue - propCorrectvalid cue (Orienting Effect) |
| disengagingAcc | PropCorrectinvalid cue - propCorrectdouble-cue (Orienting Effect) |
| orientingTimeAcc | (propCorrectvalid cue, 0 ms cue-to-targetinterval) - (propCorrectvalid cue, 800 ms cue-to-target interval) (Orienting Effect) |
| flankerConflictEffectAcc | PropCorrectflanker incongruent - propCorrectflanker congruent (Conflict (Cost) Effect) |
| locationConflictEffectAcc | PropCorrectlocation incongruent - propCorrectlocation congruent (Conflict (Cost) Effect) |
| flankerByLocationAcc | (propCorrectflanker incongruent; location incongruent - propCorrectflanker congruent; location incongruent) - (propCorrectflanker incongruent; location congruent- propCorrectflanker congruent; location congruent) |
| alertingByFlankerConflictAcc | (propCorrectno-cue, flanker incongruent - propCorrectno-cue, flanker congruent) - (propCorrectdouble-cue, flanker incongruent - propCorrectdouble-cue, flankercongruent) |
| orientingByFlankerConflictAcc | (propCorrectdouble-cue, flanker incongruent - propCorrectdouble-cue, flanker congruent) - (propCorrectvalid cue, flanker incongruent - propCorrectvalid cue, flanker congruent) |
| validityByFlankerConflictAcc | (propCorrectinvalid cue, flanker incongruent -propCorrectinvalid cue, flanker congruent) - (propCorrectvalid cue, flanker incongruent - propCorrect valid cue, flanker congruent) |
| alertingByLocationConflictAcc | (propCorrectno-cue, location incongruent - propCorrectno-cue,location congruent) - (propCorrectdouble-cue, location incongruent - propCorrectdouble-cue, location congruent) |
| orientingByLocationConflictAcc | (propCorrectdouble-cue, location incongruent - propCorrectdouble-cue, location congruent) - (propCorrectvalid cue, location incongruent - propCorrectvalid cue, location congruent) |
| validityByLocationConflictAcc | (propCorrectinvalid cue, location incongruent - propCorrectinvalid cue, location congruent) - (propCorrectvalid cue, location incongruent - propCorrectvalid cue, location congruent) neg: more efficient location conflict processing pos: less efficient location conflict processing because of invalid orienting |
| iorEffectAcc | The inhibition of return (IOR) effectAcc: (propCorrectinvalid cue, 0 ms cue-to-target interval - propCorrectvalid cue, 0 ms cue-to-targetinterval) - (propCorrectinvalid cue, 400 ms cue-to-target interval - propCorrect valid cue, 400 ms cue-to-target interval) (3) Mouse Tracking data file: 'ant_r_mousetracking_stream*.iqdat' |
| build | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| date | Date the session was run |
| time | Time the session was run |
| subject | Participant ID |
| group | Group number |
| session | Session number |
| blockCounter | Counts the number of experimental blocks run |
| blockCode | Name of the current block |
| trialCounter | Counts the number of trials run (resets after practice) |
| trialCode | Name of the current trial |
| trialPhase | 0 = starttrial; 1 = cue trial; 2 = targettrial (collects response) |
| startFixationDuration | The duration (in ms) of the fixation cross that is presented after clicking on the next button (values are sampled from an exponential distribution with mean = 4000ms; range = 2000-12000ms) |
| cueCondition | The current cue condition (1 = no cue; 2 = double cue; 3 = valid spatial cue1; 4 = valid spatial cue2, 5 = validSpatialCue 3; 6 = invalid spatial cue) |
| cueValidity | The validity of the current cue |
| flankerCongruence | The current flanker congruence condition (1 = congruent => flanker and target point in same direction; 2 = incongruent) |
| targetPosition | Current position of target (1 = right of fixation; 2 = left of fixation) |
| targetDirection | The current direction of the target (1 = points to the right; 2 = points to the left) |
| locationCongruence | 1 = target direction and target position are congruent (target points to left and sits to left of fixation; or target points to right and sits to the right of fixation cross) 2 = otherwise |
| cueTargetISI | Stores the current interstimulus interval between offset of cue and onset of target in ms |
| mouse.x | Horizontal pixel mouse coordinate |
| mouse.y | Vertical pixel mouse coordinate |
| elapsedTime | Session duration in ms |
File Name: ant_r_mousetracking_raw*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| build | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| computer.touch | 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities |
| computer.hasKeyboard | 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected |
| date | Date the session was run |
| time | Time the session was run |
| subject | Participant ID |
| group | Group number |
| session | Session number |
| blockCounter | Counts the number of experimental blocks run |
| blockCode | Name of the current block |
| trialCounter | Counts the number of trials run (resets after practice) |
| trialCode | Name of the current trial |
| trialPhase | 0 = starttrial; 1 = cue trial; 2 = targettrial (collects response) |
| startFixationDuration | The duration (in ms) of the fixation cross that is presented after clicking on the next button (values are sampled from an exponential distribution with mean = 4000ms; range = 2000-12000ms) |
| cueCondition | The current cue condition (1 = no cue; 2 = double cue; 3 = valid spatial cue1; 4 = valid spatial cue2, 5 = validSpatialCue 3; 6 = invalid spatial cue) |
| cueValidity | The validity of the current cue |
| flankerCongruence | The current flanker congruence condition (1 = congruent => flanker and target point in same direction; 2 = incongruent) |
| targetPosition | Current position of target (1 = right of fixation; 2 = left of fixation) |
| targetDirection | The current direction of the target (1 = points to the right; 2 = points to the left) |
| locationCongruence | 1 = target direction and target position are congruent (target points to left and sits to left of fixation; or target points to right and sits to the right of fixation cross) 2 = otherwise |
| cueTargetISI | Stores the current interstimulus interval between offset of cue and onset of target in ms |
| response | The response of participant (scancode of response button: 18 = left E; 23 = right I) |
| latency | Response latency (in ms) |
| valid | 1 = valid latency (latency >= (parameter) minValidLatency); 0 = anticipatory latency |
| correct | Correct of response regardless of validity (1 = correct; 0 = error) |
| validCorrect | Correctness of responses taking latency into account (1 = correct AND valid; 0 = otherwise) |
| picture.flanker1.currentItem | The current picture presented as the left flanker |
| picture.flanker2.currentItem | The current picture presented as the center-left flanker |
| picture.target.currentItem | The current picture presented as the center target |
| picture.flanker3.currentItem | The current picture presented as the center-right flanker |
| picture.flanker4.currentItem | The current picture presented as the right flanker |
| targetX | The horizontal percentage coordinate of the target (Left = 0% - Right = 100%) |
| flanker1X | The horizontal percentage coordinate of flanker1 |
| cue1X | The horizontal percentage coordinate of the cues |
Parameters |
|
| targetDuration | The maximal duration of the target/flanker presentation in ms (default: 500ms) |
| minValidLatency | Minimum response latency (in ms) that is considered valid and not anticipatory (default: 0) |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
Sizing Parameters |
||
| fontSizeFixation | Regulates the size of the fixation cross, in canvas height percentage | 5% |
| pictureSize | Regulates the size of the target/flanker, in canvas height percentage | 5% |
| flankerDistance | The relative screen distance between stimuli, in canvas width percentage | 3% |
| leftX | The x-coordinate of the target left of the fixation cross | 32.5% |
| rightX | The x-coordinate of the target right of the fixation cross | 67.5% |
| cueWidth | The width of the cue-box in canvas width percentage (32%) | 16% |
| cueHeight | The height of the cue-box in canvas height percentage (10%) | 8% |
Timing Parameters |
||
| fixationBlockStart | Duration (in ms) of first fixation cross in the block in ms | 3000 |
| cueDuration | Sets the duration (in ms) of the cue presentation in ms | 100 |
| targetDuration | Sets the maximal duration (in ms) of the target/flanker presentation in ms | 500 |
| minValidLatency | Minimum response latency (in ms) that is considered valid and not anticipatory | 0 |