Attention
Attention Network Test (ANT)
Also called: attentional network test
Measure alerting, orienting and executive control of attention in one task, with cued arrow flankers and network scores.
20-25 minTimed: desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Preview any test free after you sign up.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 562
- Evidence grade
- A
- Registered clinical studies
- 138
What it measures
Measures three attention functions in one task: alerting, orienting and executive control. A row of five arrows appears above or below a cross, sometimes after a brief star cue. Participants press the left or right arrow key for the direction of the middle arrow.
Constructs
- Executive control of attention (conflict resolution)
- Alerting
- Spatial orienting
Research uses
- Attention research
- Within-study group comparison
- Intervention and individual-differences studies
How the paradigm works
The Attention Network Test measures three attention functions in one task: alerting, orienting and executive control (Fan et al., 2002). A row of five arrows appears above or below a central cross, and participants press the left or right arrow key for the direction of the middle arrow. The arrows on either side point the same way (congruent), the opposite way (incongruent), or are plain lines (neutral).
More about the paradigm
Each trial starts with the cross for 400 to 1,600 ms, drawn at random. A 100 ms cue follows: no cue, a star in place of the cross (center cue), stars at both places the arrows can appear (double cue), or a star where the arrows will appear (spatial cue). The arrows appear 400 ms after the cue ends and stay until a response or 1,700 ms, and a closing fixation keeps every trial at 4,000 ms. The standard test has 24 practice trials with feedback and 3 blocks of 96 trials; each block shows every cue, flanker type, target location and direction twice in a recorded random order.
The alerting effect is the no-cue minus double-cue mean correct response time, the orienting effect is the center-cue minus spatial-cue time, and the conflict effect is the incongruent minus congruent time. Fan et al. (2002) reported mean effects of 47 ms for alerting, 51 ms for orienting and 84 ms for conflict. The conflict effect is the primary score because it is the most reliable of the three: its test-retest correlation was .77, against .61 for orienting and .52 for alerting (Fan et al., 2002), and in 1,129 adults its split-half reliability was .81, against .55 and .38 (Spearman-Brown corrected; MacLeod et al., 2010). The same differences in error rate are reported too.
Scores
- Conflict Effect (Executive Control)ms
- Incongruent minus congruent mean correct response time.
- Larger values mean more slowing from conflicting arrows
- Alerting Effectms
- No-cue minus double-cue mean correct response time.
- Larger values mean a bigger benefit from a warning signal
- Orienting Effectms
- Center-cue minus spatial-cue mean correct response time.
- Larger values mean a bigger benefit from knowing where the arrows will appear
- Mean Correct RTms
- Mean response time on correct test trials.
- Lower is faster
- Accuracy%
- Share of test trials answered with the middle arrow's direction.
- Higher is better
- Conflict Error Effect%
- Incongruent minus congruent error rate.
- Larger values mean more errors from conflicting arrows
- Alerting Error Effect%
- No-cue minus double-cue error rate.
- Positive values mean fewer errors after a warning signal
- Orienting Error Effect%
- Center-cue minus spatial-cue error rate.
- Positive values mean fewer errors when the location was cued
Use and evidence
562 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 14% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 43 of 395 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 112 |
| 2024 | 126 |
| 2023 | 97 |
| 2022 | 109 |
| 2021 | 118 |
| 2020 | 99 |
| 2019 | 107 |
| 2018 | 108 |
| 2017 | 73 |
| 2016 | 107 |
| 2015 | 92 |
| 2014 | 88 |
| 2013 | 75 |
| 2012 | 72 |
| 2011 | 62 |
| 2010 | 56 |
| 2009 | 49 |
| 2008 | 23 |
| 2007 | 30 |
| 2006 | 11 |
| 2005 | 13 |
| 2004 | 10 |
| 2003 | 2 |
| 2002 | 3 |
| 2001 | 2 |
| 2000 | 1 |
Use grade B
300 to 999 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade A
At least 25 papers report its test-retest reliability and at least 25 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 29
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 123
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 138
Published reliability
- Split-half reliability: executive control .81, orienting .55, alerting .38. (MacLeod et al. 2010) https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019803
How the grades work
Use: A is 1,000 or more papers from 2021 to 2025, B 300 to 999, C 100 to 299, D 30 to 99 and E fewer than 30. Evidence: A means at least 25 papers report its test-retest reliability and at least 25 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome; B, at least 8 test-retest papers, and either 5 registered clinical studies or 150 reliability or validity papers; C, at least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies; D, little published measurement evidence found. The counts measure use. They include every paper that names the task in its title or abstract. Grades describe the published research on this task, not ConductCognition's version of it.
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Display
- Five arrows in a row above or below a central cross; the outer four point the same way, the opposite way, or are plain lines.
- Fixation
- 400 to 1,600 ms, drawn at random for each trial.
- Cue
- No cue, a star in place of the cross, stars at both target locations, or a star at the target location, for 100 ms.
- Cue to target
- 400 ms after the cue ends.
- Arrows
- Stay until a response or 1,700 ms; every trial lasts 4,000 ms in all.
- Keys
- Left and right arrows for the direction of the middle arrow.
- Blocks
- 3 blocks of 96 trials (1 to 3); each block shows every cue, flanker type, location and direction twice.
- Practice
- 24 trials with feedback.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: attention_network_test from the scored run, left or right arrow for the middle arrow (chance 50%, each direction on half the trials of every block) within 1,700 ms. Below chance invalidates and not above chance is flagged. One key on 90% of answers invalidates when accuracy is not above chance. Missed responses and responses under 100 ms follow the timed-test rule.
Why these rules
Accuracy significantly below chance (one-sided exact test, p < .05) cannot come from guessing; it means the response mapping was reversed or the task was not followed (Slick, Sherman and Iverson 1999 treat below-chance forced-choice performance as definite response bias). Chance-level accuracy can be a real result in impaired participants, so it is only flagged. One option on at least 90% of answered trials, when the correct options are balanced and accuracy is not above chance, means the answers did not depend on the items (the task counterpart of long-string responding in surveys; Curran 2016). Missed responses and responses under 100 ms keep the platform's timed-test rule: more than max(3, 25%) missed responses or more than max(2, 20%) responses under 100 ms invalidate, and any is flagged. A response under 100 ms cannot be a reaction to the stimulus.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Test blocks | 3 | 1 to 3 |
Yearly plans can change settings within these limits. Free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Need a setting this test does not have?
Devices and languages
- Timed test: participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad. Participant devices
- Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Attention Network Test in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz and Posner, 2002), with the standard settings (test blocks: 3). The main score was conflict effect (Executive Control; incongruent minus congruent mean correct response time).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Sommer, T., Raz, A., & Posner, M. I. (2002). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14(3), 340-347. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892902317361886
- MacLeod, J. W., Lawrence, M. A., McConnell, M. M., Eskes, G. A., Klein, R. M., & Shore, D. I. (2010). Appraising the ANT: Psychometric and theoretical considerations of the Attention Network Test. Neuropsychology, 24(5), 637-651. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019803Reliability of the three network scores.
Source papers
- Fan J, McCandliss BD, Sommer T, Raz A, Posner MI (2002). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14(3):340-347.Paradigm source, Adults
- MacLeod JW, Lawrence MA, McConnell MM, Eskes GA, Klein RM, Shore DI (2010). Appraising the ANT: psychometric and theoretical considerations of the Attention Network Test. Neuropsychology, 24(5):637-651.Paradigm source, Adults
Questions
How long does the Attention Network Test (ANT) take?
About 20 to 25 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Timed test: participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Conflict Effect (Executive Control), Alerting Effect, Orienting Effect, Mean Correct RT, Accuracy, Conflict Error Effect, Alerting Error Effect and Orienting Error Effect. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Attention Network Test (ANT) used in research?
562 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, up 14% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 43 of 395 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade B). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Attention Network Test (ANT) have?
In the published research, 29 papers report its test-retest reliability and 138 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade A in the ConductCognition test census). Split-half reliability: executive control .81, orienting .55, alerting .38. (MacLeod et al. 2010)
Which settings can a researcher change?
Test blocks (1 to 3). Settings can be changed on yearly plans; free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Which languages can participants use?
Participants can take this test in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. English is on every plan, and the other languages come with yearly plans. Have a native speaker read the machine-translated text before launch.
Is this a clinical test?
No. ConductCognition is for research use only. It runs, scores and exports the test; clinical interpretation is outside the platform.
Every test: the full test list.
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