Task dossier

Attention Network Test (ANT)

T000015T000015-antSmoke testedWeb preview availableUpdated Jun 19, 2026

ANT implementation measuring alerting, orienting, and executive-control effects from cue and flanker manipulations.

Attention Network Test (ANT) flow diagram

Preview path

This task ships with a matched HTML companion so the browser preview can stay aligned to the canonical local repository.

Quick start

Clone locally, then follow the README for install and run instructions.

git clone https://github.com/TaskBeacon/T000015-ant.git
cd T000015-ant
# Follow the README for local setup and run steps

README

View on GitHub

Attention Network Test (ANT)

Field	Value
Name	Attention Network Test (ANT)
Version	v1.1.2
URL / Repository	https://github.com/TaskBeacon/T000015-ant
Short Description	ANT implementation measuring alerting, orienting, and executive-control effects from cue and flanker manipulations.
Created By	Zhipeng Cao (zhipeng30@foxmail.com)
Date Updated	2026-03-02
PsyFlow Version	0.1.9
PsychoPy Version	2025.1.1
Modality	Behavior / EEG
Language	Chinese
Voice Name	zh-CN-YunyangNeural

Run Modes

Human (default): python main.py
QA: python main.py qa --config config/config_qa.yaml
Scripted Sim: python main.py sim --config config/config_scripted_sim.yaml
Sampler Sim: python main.py sim --config config/config_sampler_sim.yaml

1. Task Overview

This ANT presents a target arrow flanked by congruent or incongruent arrows, with cue manipulations (no, center, double, spatial). Participants respond to the center arrow direction. The task enables estimation of alerting, orienting, and executive-control effects from reaction time and accuracy contrasts.

2. Task Flow

Task Flow

Block-Level Flow

Step	Description
Setup	Load config, initialize mode context (`human/qa/sim`), create window, preload stimuli, initialize triggers.
Instruction	Show `instruction_text` (voice optional in human mode).
Block Loop	Generate ANT conditions and run trial loop through `run_trial(...)`.
Block Summary	Compute block accuracy and show `block_break`.
Finalize	Show `good_bye`, send `exp_end`, save CSV, close trigger runtime, quit PsychoPy.

Trial-Level Flow

Step	Description
Fixation	Show fixation cross (`+`) for `fixation_duration`.
Cue (optional)	Show center/double/spatial cue for `cue_duration` if condition requires it.
Flanker Response	Show 5-arrow stimulus and capture left/right response during `stim_duration`.
Feedback	Show correct/incorrect/no-response feedback text.
ITI	Blank interval sampled from `iti_duration`.

Controller Logic

No adaptive controller is used in this ANT baseline variant.

3. Configuration Summary

a. Subject Info

Field	Meaning
`subject_id`	Participant ID (3 digits).
`subname`	Participant name (pinyin).
`age`	Age (5-60).
`gender`	`Male` or `Female`.

b. Window Settings

Parameter	Value
`window.size`	`[1920, 1080]`
`window.units`	`deg`
`window.fullscreen`	`true`
`window.bg_color`	`gray`
`window.monitor_width_cm`	`60`
`window.monitor_distance_cm`	`72`

c. Stimuli

Name	Type	Description
`fixation`	`text`	Central fixation cross.
`cue_center`	`text`	Center cue (`*`).
`cue_up`, `cue_down`	`text`	Spatial cues at upper/lower locations.
`congruent_*`	`text`	Congruent 5-arrow arrays.
`incongruent_*`	`text`	Incongruent 5-arrow arrays.
`correct_feedback`	`text`	Correct response message.
`incorrect_feedback`	`text`	Incorrect response message.
`no_response_feedback`	`text`	Miss/no-response message.
`instruction_text`	`textbox`	Chinese ANT instructions.
`block_break`	`text`	Inter-block summary screen.
`good_bye`	`text`	End-of-task message.

d. Timing

Phase	Duration
`cue_duration`	`0.1 s`
`fixation_duration`	`0.5 s`
`stim_duration`	`1.0 s`
`feedback_duration`	`0.5 s`
`iti_duration`	Random in `[0.8, 1.2] s`

e. Triggers

Event	Code
`exp_onset`	254
`exp_end`	255
`block_onset`	252
`block_end`	253
`fixation_onset`	1
`center_cue_onset`	11
`double_cue_onset`	12
`spatial_cue_up_onset`	13
`spatial_cue_down_onset`	14
`stim_1111` ... `stim_4222`	21-58 family
`left_key_press`	201
`right_key_press`	202
`feedback_correct_response`	221
`feedback_incorrect_response`	222
`feedback_no_response`	223

4. Methods (for academic publication)

Participants completed an Attention Network Test combining cue manipulations with flanker congruency conflict. Each trial began with fixation, followed by an optional cue (none, center, double, or spatial), and then a five-arrow target array in which the central arrow defined the required response.

Participants responded to center-arrow direction while ignoring flankers. Congruent and incongruent flankers were used to quantify executive-control costs, while cue contrasts enabled alerting and orienting effect estimates. Feedback and jittered inter-trial intervals were included to stabilize performance and timing.

The implementation is EEG-compatible and includes explicit event markers for fixation, cue class, condition-encoded target onset, response channel, and outcome.