Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Created: January 21, 2013
Last Modified: January 19, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements the Short Attention Network Test (ANT, Fan et al, 2005), a behavioral measure of alerting, orienting and executive attention. It runs the ANT in about half the time as the original one (Fan et al, 2002).
This script implements the short Attention Network Test (shortANT) as shared by Dr. Fan: https://people.qc.cuny.edu/Faculty/Jin.Fan/Pages/Downloads.aspx
Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Sommer, T., Raz, A., & Posner, M. I. (2002). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 340–347.
Fan J, McCandliss BD, Fossella J, Flombaum JI, Posner MI. The activation of attentional networks. Neuroimage. 2005 Jun;26(2):471-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.02.004. Epub 2005 Mar 19. PMID: 15907304.
12 minutes
Participants are presented arrows either directly above or below a fixation cross. Arrows are flanked by other arrows that point in the same (congruent) or opposite direction (incongruent). Participants have to decide whether the central arrows point right or left. Several cue conditions (3) (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).
3 cue conditions (no cue, center cue, spatial cue) x 2 flanker conditions (congruent, incongruent)
within-subjects design
A) 1 Block of 12 Practice trial sequences with feedback
B) 1 Blocks of 120 trial sequences each - no feedback
EXPERIMENTAL BLOCKS:
120 trial sequences: 5 (repetitions) x 3 (cue conditions) x 2 (flanker conditions) x 2 (target positions) x 2 (target directions)
Trial Sequence (one sequence for each cue condition) - randomly selected
fixation (randomly chosen presentation time: 400ms +) -> cue (100ms) -> fixation (400ms) -> target (1700ms)-> intertrialinterval (depends: complete trialduration = 4s)
Size of Stimuli:
Fan et al (2002) give specific dimensions of the size and distance of targets/flankers (p.345/346)
=> distance participant/screen: 65 cm
=> single line arrow : 0.55 degree visual angle
=> distance flankers/target: 0.06 degree visual angle (area covered by all: 3.08 degree visual angle)
=> distance target/fixation cross: 1.06 degree visual angle
This script does NOT attempt to replicate these dimensions as different monitors require different fontsizes etc.
Fine-tune fontsize of stimuli, distance of flanker to target, and position of target above and below
fixation cross under section EDITABLE PARAMETERS
Instructions are modelled after the instructions generously made available by Dr. Fan
Instructions can be edited in script 'shortant_instructions_inc.iqjs'
File Name: shortant_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 |
| overallPropCorrect | Overall proportion correct across all testblock trials |
| meanRTCorrect | Overall mean RT (of correct responses) for test trials |
| propCorrectNoCue | Proportion correct responses in nocue condition |
| meanRTNoCue | Mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in nocue condition |
| propCorrectCenterCue | Proportion correct responses in centercue condition |
| meanRTCenterCue | Mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in centercue condition |
| propCorrectSpatialCue | Proportion correct responses in spatialcue condition |
| meanRTSpatialCue | Mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in spatialcue condition |
| propCorrectCongruent | Proportion correct responses in trials with target-congruent flankers (flankers that point in the same direction as target) |
| meanRTCongruent | Mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in trials with target-congruent flankers (flankers that point in the same direction as target) |
| propCorrectIncongruent | Proportion correct responses in trials with target-incongruent flankers (flankers that point in the opposite direction as target) |
| meanRTIncongruent | Mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in trials with target-incongruent flankers (flankers that point in the opposite direction as target) |
| propCorrectCongruentNC | Proportion correct responses in trials with target-congruent flankers in No Cue Condition |
| meanRTCorrectCongruentNC | Mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in trials with target-congruent flankers in No Cue Condition |
| propCorrectIncongruentNC | Proportion correct responses in trials with target-incongruent flankers in No Cue Condition meanRTCorrectIncongruentNC: mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in trials with target-incongruent flankers in No Cue Condition |
| propCorrectCongruentCC | Proportion correct responses in trials with target-congruent flankers in Center Cue Condition |
| meanRTCorrectCongruentCC | Mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in trials with target-congruent flankers in Center Cue Condition |
| propCorrectIncongruentCC | Proportion correct responses in trials with target-incongruent flankers in Center Cue Condition meanRTCorrectIncongruentCC: mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in trials with target-incongruent flankers in Center Cue Condition |
| propCorrectCongruentSC | Proportion correct responses in trials with target-congruent flankers in Spatial Cue Condition |
| meanRTCorrectCongruentSC | Mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in trials with target-congruent flankers in Spatial Cue Condition |
| propCorrectIncongruentSC | Proportion correct responses in trials with target-incongruent flankers in Spatial Cue Condition meanRTCorrectIncongruentSC: mean response time (in ms) of correct responses in trials with target-incongruent flankers in Spatial Cue Condition |
| alertingEffectRT | MeanRTCorrectnocue - meanRTCorrectCenterCue |
| orientingEffectRT | MeanRTCorrectCenterCue - meanRTCorrectspatialcue => Effect of orienting attention towards a specific location of information |
| conflictEffectRT | MeanRTCorrectincongruent - meanRTCorrectcongruent => Effect of resolving conflict between several possible responses (executive function) |
| alertingEffectAcc | PropCorrectCorrectnocue - propCorrectCorrectCenterCue |
| orientingEffectAcc | PropCorrectCorrectCenterCue - propCorrectCorrectspatialcue => Effect of orienting attention towards a specific location of information |
| conflictEffectAcc | PropCorrectCorrectincongruent - propCorrectCorrectcongruent => Effect of resolving conflict between several possible responses (executive function) |
File Name: shortant_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 |
| blockCount | Counts the number of experimental blocks run |
| blockCode | Name of the current block |
| trialCount | Counts the number of trials run (resets after practice) |
| trialCode | Name of the current trial |
| practice | 1 = practice trial; 0 = test trial |
| completeTrialDuration | The complete duration (in ms) of one trial sequence (default: 4000ms) |
| fixation1Duration | The actual duration (in ms) of the first fixation cross (400ms +) |
| cueDuration | The duration (in ms) of the cue presentation (default: 100ms) |
| isiCueTarget | The duration (in ms) of the fixation cross after cue presentation and before target (default: 400ms) |
| targetDuration | The maximal duration (in ms) of the target/flanker presentation (default: 1700ms) equals the response window |
| itiDuration | The current intertrial interval (in ms) |
| cueCondition | The current cue condition (1 = no cue; 2 = center cue; 3 = spatial cue) |
| flankerCongruence | The current flanker condition (1 = congruent; 0 = incongruent) |
| targetPosition | Position of target relative to fixation (0 = above fixation; 1 = below fixation) |
| targetDirection | The direction of the target (0 = right; 1 = left) |
| 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 | Horizontal percentage coordinate of the target stim (left: 0% - 100%: right) |
| targetY | Vertical percentage coordinate of the target stim (top: 0% - 100%: bottom) |
| flanker1X | Horizontal percentage coordinate of the first flanker stim (left: 0% - 100%: right) |
| flanker1Y | Vertical percentage coordinate of the first flanker stim (top: 0% - 100%: bottom) |
| cueX | Horizontal percentage coordinate of the cue stim (left: 0% - 100%: right) |
| cueY | Vertical percentage coordinate of cue stim (top: 0% - 100%: bottom) |
| response | The response of participant (scancode of response button: 18 = left E; 23 = right I; 57 = spacebar) |
| correct | Correctness of response (1 = correct, 0 = error) |
| latency | Response latency (in ms); measured from onset of target until response is made or trial times out |
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% |
| cueSize | Regulates the size of the cues, in canvas height percentage | 5% |
| arrowSize | Regulates the size of the target/flanker, in canvas height percentage | 6% |
| flankerDistance | The relative screen distance between stimuli, in canvas width percentage | 7% |
| topY | The y-coordinate of the target above the fixation cross | 45% |
| bottomY | The y-coordinate of the target below the fixation cross | 55% |
Timing Parameters |
||
| completeTrialDuration | Sets the complete duration (in ms) of one trial sequence | 4000 |
| minFixation1Duration | Sets the minimum duration (in ms) of the first fixation cross in a trial sequence. The actual duration contains the addition of a random component: a randomly selected number between 0-1200ms is added to this fixation duration. (default: 400ms) | 400 |
| cueDuration | Sets the duration (in ms) of the cue presentation | 100 |
| isiCueTarget | Sets the duration (in ms) of the fixation cross after cue presentation and before target | 400 |
| targetDuration | Sets the maximal duration (in ms) of the target/flanker presentation equals the response window | 1700 |
| practiceFeedbackDuration | Sets the duration (in ms) of the feedback trial during practice | 2000 |
| readyDuration | Duration (in ms) of the get-ready trial | 5000 |
Response Keys |
||
| responseKeyLeft | The left response key | "E" |
| responseKeyRight | The right response key | "I" |