Attentional Network Task - Child Version (ANT)

Background

The Attentional Network Task (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).

Rosario Rueda and colleagues published a child-friendly version of the ANT (childANT) using a fish-feeding game.

Task Procedure

The participant sees a configuration of 5 fish above or below a fixation cross and is asked to feed the hungry middle fish as fast as possible by pressing the left response button if the central fish points to the left or the right response button if the central fish points to the right (irrespective of where the flanking fish point). The fish configuration may be preceded by a brief visual cue. In the example below, the participant sees two stars (one above and one below the fixation cross) that signal that the fish will come along shortly ('alerting') but leaves the location of the fish unknown ('no orienting').

What it Measures

The Child Attentional Network Task (childANT) is a cognitive behavioral test to measure the effects of three attentional networks on accuracy and response times with a child friendly design.

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 alerting signals on response speed and performance
• orientingEffect: The effect of orientation signals on response speed and performance
• conflictEffect: The cost effect of flanker incongruence on response speed and performance

Psychiatric Conditions

ANT performance 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)