Installation of the Attention Network Task (ANT) Program
The program needs to be run using “e-Run”, a commercial experiment application, on an IBM compatible personal computer (PC) running Windows. Attached please find one zip file ("ANT_Short.zip") for the program for the measurement of three attentional networks. After you have E-prime installed on your PCs, you can unzip the program to c:\My Experiment\ANT_Short.
How to Run the Program
To run the program, double click on the "ANT_Short.ebs2" file in the directory (for example, c:\My Experiment\ ANT_Short). After you have the “e-Run” window, go to "Build" and then select "Run".
When you see the prompt stating, “Please enter the Subject Number (0-32767)” you can enter the subject number, for example 9001, with 9 to represent the experiment number and 001 as the subject number. Then, there will be the prompt stating, “Please enter the Session Number (0-32767)”. If you run the subject twice, for example pre-test and post-test, with the same task, at the first time you should enter “1” and at the second time you should enter “2”. The subject number should be the same both times. After you make sure that the startup information is correct, you can continue. If you already have the data with the same subject and session numbers, there will be a WARNING to ask you whether or not you want to overwrite it. Be careful when you see this message.
Next the instruction page will appear. Follow the instructions and make sure that the participant understands the task.
After you run each subject, close (kill) the e-Run window to release the memory e-Run used. Then, you can double click on the "ANT_Short.ebs2" again to run next participant.
The distance between participant’s eye and the screen should be 53 cm if the monitor is a 15 inch monitor. With a different monitor size, the distance should be adjusted to keep the visual angle of the stimulus the same. For example, if you run this task on a 17 inch monitor, the distance between participant’s eye and the screen should be 53*17/15 = 60 cm.
The task takes 14 minutes in total.
Instructions for Participants
WELCOME TO THE ANT - SHORT EXPERIMENT
Press the SPACE key to read the instructions.
INSTRUCTIONS
This is an experiment investigating attention. You will be shown an arrow on the screen pointing either to the left or to the right, for example --> or <-- . The arrow will be flanked by two arrows to the left and two arrows to the right either pointing in the same or opposite direction as the central arrow, for example:
--> --> --> --> --> or --> --> <-- --> -->
Your task is to respond to the direction of the CENTRAL arrow. You should press the left mouse button with your left thumb if the central arrow points to the left or press the right mouse button with your right thumb if the central arrow points to the right.
There will be a cross ("+") in the center of the screen and the arrows will appear either above or below the cross. You should try to fixate on the cross throughout the experiment.
On some trials there will be asterisk cues indicating when or where the arrows will appear. If the cue appears at the center in the location of the cross this indicates that the arrow will appear shortly. If the cue is above or below the cross this indicates both that the trial will occur shortly and where the arrows will appear. Try to maintain fixation on the cross at all times. However, you may attend when and where indicated by the cues.
The experiment contains three blocks. The first block is for practice and takes about one minute. The other two blocks are experimental blocks and each takes about six minutes. After each block there will be a message to "Take a break" and you may take a short rest. After the break, you can press the space key to begin the next block. The whole experiment takes about fourteen minutes.
If you have any questions, please ask the experimenter.
Press the SPACE key to start the practice block.
You have completed the practice block.
There are two test blocks in this experiment. Each block takes about 6 minutes.
When you are ready, press the SPACE key to start the first block.
You have finished the experiment (three blocks).
Please call the experimenter.
Thank you very much and goodbye! Instructions for Data Analysis
- Merge the data file from all subjects using E-Merge
- Use the E-DataAid and “.anl” files for accuracy and RT to get the numbers of correct trials and mean RT under each condition.
Psychometric Properties
Reliability coefficients for the alerting, orienting, and executive control of attention were .57, .69, and .91, respectively based on a sample of 30 participants.