Attentional Network Task - Child Version (ANT)
AKA: Child ANT
Background
Rosario Rueda and colleagues published a child-friendly version of the Attentional Network Task (ANT) using a fish-feeding game in 2004. The Child ANT measures three attentional networks, Alerting, Orienting, and Executive Attention, in children ages 6 to 10.
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)
The child version of the Attentional Network Task as developed by Rueda et al (2004).
References
Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Attentional Network Task - Child Version (ANT).
Rueda, M. R., Fan, J., McCandlis, B. D., Halparin, J. D., Gruber, D. B., Pappert Lercari, L., & Posner, M.I (2004).