Assessing anxiety-linked impairment in attentional control without eye-tracking : the masked-target antisaccade task
- Author
- Julian Basanovic, Jemma Todd, Bram Van Bockstaele (UGent) , Lies Notebaert, Frances Meeten and Patrick J. F. Clarke
- Organization
- Abstract
- Contemporary cognitive theories of anxiety and attention processing propose that heightened levels of anxiety vulnerability are associated with a decreasing ability to inhibit the allocation of attention towards task-irrelevant information. Existing performance-based research has most often used eye-movement assessment variants of the antisaccade paradigm to demonstrate such effects. Critically, however, eye-movement assessment methods are limited by expense, the need for expert training in administration, and limited mobility and scalability. These barriers have likely led to researchers' use of suboptimal methods of assessing the relationship between attentional control and anxiety vulnerability. The present study examined the capacity for a non-eye-movement-based variant of the antisaccade task, the masked-target antisaccade task (Guitton et al., 1985), to detect anxiety-linked differences in attentional control. Participants (N = 342) completed an assessment of anxiety vulnerability and performed the masked-target antisaccade task in an online assessment session. Greater levels of anxiety vulnerability predicted poorer performance on the task, consistent with findings observed from eye-movement methods and with cognitive theories of anxiety and attention processing. Results also revealed the task to have high internal reliability. Our findings indicate that the masked-target antisaccade task provides a psychometrically reliable, low-cost, mobile, and scalable assessment of anxiety-linked differences in attentional control.
- Keywords
- WORKING-MEMORY CAPACITY, COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE, SELF-REPORT, SYMPTOMS, INHIBITION, RELIABILITY, EFFICIENCY, VALIDITY, BIAS, Anxiety, Attentional control, Antisaccade
Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01J5NE4ZCRMDE3H0AZ4EP9JF8S
- MLA
- Basanovic, Julian, et al. “Assessing Anxiety-Linked Impairment in Attentional Control without Eye-Tracking : The Masked-Target Antisaccade Task.” BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS, vol. 55, no. 1, 2023, pp. 135–42, doi:10.3758/s13428-022-01800-z.
- APA
- Basanovic, J., Todd, J., Van Bockstaele, B., Notebaert, L., Meeten, F., & Clarke, P. J. F. (2023). Assessing anxiety-linked impairment in attentional control without eye-tracking : the masked-target antisaccade task. BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS, 55(1), 135–142. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01800-z
- Chicago author-date
- Basanovic, Julian, Jemma Todd, Bram Van Bockstaele, Lies Notebaert, Frances Meeten, and Patrick J. F. Clarke. 2023. “Assessing Anxiety-Linked Impairment in Attentional Control without Eye-Tracking : The Masked-Target Antisaccade Task.” BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS 55 (1): 135–42. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01800-z.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Basanovic, Julian, Jemma Todd, Bram Van Bockstaele, Lies Notebaert, Frances Meeten, and Patrick J. F. Clarke. 2023. “Assessing Anxiety-Linked Impairment in Attentional Control without Eye-Tracking : The Masked-Target Antisaccade Task.” BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS 55 (1): 135–142. doi:10.3758/s13428-022-01800-z.
- Vancouver
- 1.Basanovic J, Todd J, Van Bockstaele B, Notebaert L, Meeten F, Clarke PJF. Assessing anxiety-linked impairment in attentional control without eye-tracking : the masked-target antisaccade task. BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS. 2023;55(1):135–42.
- IEEE
- [1]J. Basanovic, J. Todd, B. Van Bockstaele, L. Notebaert, F. Meeten, and P. J. F. Clarke, “Assessing anxiety-linked impairment in attentional control without eye-tracking : the masked-target antisaccade task,” BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 135–142, 2023.
@article{01J5NE4ZCRMDE3H0AZ4EP9JF8S,
abstract = {{Contemporary cognitive theories of anxiety and attention processing propose that heightened levels of anxiety vulnerability are associated with a decreasing ability to inhibit the allocation of attention towards task-irrelevant information. Existing performance-based research has most often used eye-movement assessment variants of the antisaccade paradigm to demonstrate such effects. Critically, however, eye-movement assessment methods are limited by expense, the need for expert training in administration, and limited mobility and scalability. These barriers have likely led to researchers' use of suboptimal methods of assessing the relationship between attentional control and anxiety vulnerability. The present study examined the capacity for a non-eye-movement-based variant of the antisaccade task, the masked-target antisaccade task (Guitton et al., 1985), to detect anxiety-linked differences in attentional control. Participants (N = 342) completed an assessment of anxiety vulnerability and performed the masked-target antisaccade task in an online assessment session. Greater levels of anxiety vulnerability predicted poorer performance on the task, consistent with findings observed from eye-movement methods and with cognitive theories of anxiety and attention processing. Results also revealed the task to have high internal reliability. Our findings indicate that the masked-target antisaccade task provides a psychometrically reliable, low-cost, mobile, and scalable assessment of anxiety-linked differences in attentional control.}},
author = {{Basanovic, Julian and Todd, Jemma and Van Bockstaele, Bram and Notebaert, Lies and Meeten, Frances and Clarke, Patrick J. F.}},
issn = {{1554-351X}},
journal = {{BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS}},
keywords = {{WORKING-MEMORY CAPACITY,COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE,SELF-REPORT,SYMPTOMS,INHIBITION,RELIABILITY,EFFICIENCY,VALIDITY,BIAS,Anxiety,Attentional control,Antisaccade}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{135--142}},
title = {{Assessing anxiety-linked impairment in attentional control without eye-tracking : the masked-target antisaccade task}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01800-z}},
volume = {{55}},
year = {{2023}},
}
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