Attentional Network Test for Interaction Birds (ANTI-Birds)
Background
The Attentional Network Test for Interaction - Birds (ANTI-Birds) joined the family of Attentional Network Tasks (ANT), assessment procedures of three attentional subcomponents, in 2022. Maria Casagrande and colleagues published the ANTI-Birds, a variant of the Interaction Attentional Network Task (ANT-I), as an ANT procedure suitable for preschoolers ages 3 to 6.
The ANT, originally introduced by Jin Fan and colleagues in 2002, is a cognitive behavioral assessment tool of different attentional components referred to as 'attentional networks': Alerting ('vigilance'), Orienting ('selective attention'), and Executive Attention (in the form of conflict resolution). The ANT-I published by Alicia Callejas and colleagues in 2005, builds upon this earlier framework to further isolate and measure interactions between these three networks. Key additions to the ANT-I paradigm included auditory signals to the alerting network as well as a validity manipulation of the visual spatial cues.
Casagrande and colleagues suggest that using a categorization task of directional stimuli like left vs. right pointing arrows, the default stimuli of ANT tasks, may be too difficult for young children as the directional stimuli may excessively strain the developing executive system. Thus, instead of directional stimuli, the ANTI-Birds task uses a child-appropriate perceptually focused, color-based categorization task of red and yellow birds.
The original ANTI-Birds task is publicly available at: https://osf.io/xbm23/overview.
Task Procedure
Each trial in the ANTI-Birds presents the participant with a tree that shows one nest in its center (the fixation stimulus) as well as two configurations of 5 eggs above and below it. After a certain (random) delay, birds 'hatch' out of one of these egg displays. These birds can all have the same color (red or yellow: RRRRR or YYYYY) or the middle bird might show a different color (RRYRR or YYRYY). The participant is asked to press the dedicated 'yellow' button (e.g. the left mouse button) if the middle bird is yellow or the dedicated 'red' button (e.g. the right mouse button) if the middle bird is red, irrespective of the colors of the flanking birds. Each 'bird-hatching' event may also be preceded by a warning signal (e.g. chirping birds) for 200ms as well as some changes to one of the egg configurations (e.g. the eggs above the nest are outlined in black for 100ms) which may suggest the location of the 'hatching' birds. Participants have 2000ms to respond. Each response is followed up with feedback, and each trial ends with a blank screen for 250ms before the next trial starts.
Participants work through 12 practice trials before the test of 3 blocks of 48 trials begins. Participants get to rest after each test block.
What it Measures
The Interaction Attentional Network Task-Birds (ANTI-Birds) is a cognitive behavioral test to measure the effects of three attentional networks and their interactions on accuracy and response times in preschool children.
Psychological domains
- Attention: Assessment of Attentional Networks
- Vigilance: Measures the ability to achieve and maintain a state of high sensitivity to incoming stimuli
- Selective Attention: Measures the ability to select information from sensory input by directing attention to a specific location in space
- Executive Control: Measures the ability to resolve conflict among competing stimuli, involving response inhibition and decision-making
Main Performance Metrics
- alertingEffect: The effect of achieving and maintaining alertness
- orientingEffect: The effect of orienting attention towards a specific location of information
- conflictEffect: The (cost) effect of resolving conflict between several possible responses (executive function)
Psychiatric Conditions
The ANTI-Birds is mainly used for research into the development of the three attentional networks. ANT performance in general tends to be impaired in patients with the following psychiatric conditions.
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Schizophrenia
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Anxiety Disorders
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Test Variations
The Attentional Network Test for Interaction Birds (ANTI-Birds) is a behavioral measure of alerting, orienting and executive attention published by Casagrande et al (2022), The ANTI-Birds task is a variant of the Attention Network Test-Interaction (ANT-I, Callejas et al, 2005) specifically designed for preschoolers (Ages 3-6).
The Attentional Network Test for Interaction Birds (ANTI-Birds) modified to run with touch input
References
Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Attentional Network Test for Interaction Birds (ANTI-Birds).
Casagrande, M., Marotta, A., Martella, D., Volpari, E., Agostini, F., Favieri, F., Forte, G., Rea, M., Ferri, R., Giordano, V., Doricchi, F., & Giovannoli, J. (2022). Assessing the three attentional networks in children from three to six years: A child-friendly version of the Attentional Network Test for Interaction. Behavior Research Methods, 54(3), 1403–1415. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-021-01668-5
Forte, G., Favieri, F., Marotta, A., Arcari, L., Cacciotti, L., & Casagrande, M. (2024). The Efficiency of Attentional Networks in Takostubo Syndrome: A Study With the Attentional Network Task for Interaction. Journal of Attention Disorders, 28(4), 469–479. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547231215517
Liu, Q., Zhang, Y., & Razza, R. A. (2024). Preschoolers’ Attentional and Behavioral Regulation: Differential Pathways through Poverty and Parenting. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 33(10), 3384–3401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-024-02917-9