Jim McAuliffe

Using the Attention Network Test to predict driving test scores

Driving is a complex multi-factorial task that taps underlying mechanisms of cognition and attention. Not surprisingly, therefore, many tests of cognition and attention are significantly associated with driving outcomes. In this article, we introduce driving researchers and clinicians with an interest in driving to the Attention Network Test (ANT), which to our knowledge has not previously been used in driving research. It is a recently developed test that is based on a neural network model of the human attention system. It combines elements of Posners cuing paradigm [Posner, M.I., 1980. Orienting of attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 32, 3-25.] with the Eriksen & Eriksen flanker task [Eriksen, B.A., Eriksen, C.W., 1974. Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task. Perception & Psychophysics 16, 143-149.], and provides measures of three distinct functions of attention: alerting, orienting, and executive function. Our results demonstrate that the ANT has very good concurrent validity with the Useful Field of View (UFOV), and that it is comparable to UFOV in its ability to predict road test scores for a simulated drive. These findings suggest that further investigation of the usefulness of the ANT as a tool for driving researchers and clinicians is merited.

The role of attentional set on attentional cueing and inhibition of return

When people know what critical feature will define a target for a block of trials, only cues that share a critical feature with targets will capture attention. This result is taken to mean that attentional control settings play a role in target identification. To examine the validity of the attentional control settings hypothesis while controlling for potential sensory artifacts, the first experiment compared conditions in which the critical target features were either blocked or randomized. The results indicated that all cues captured attention in the random conditions, but only cues that matched targets captured attention in the attentional set condition. The second experiment used the same two conditions to examine the effect of attentional set on inhibition of return (IOR). No differences were found between the blocked and random conditions, indicating that attentional set did not impact the IOR effects. Overall, the results indicate that (1) the previous findings of attentional set effects were not due to an artifact of the method, and (2) attentional set influences and early occurring attentional cueing effects but not later-occurring IOR effects.

Determining whether attentional control settings are inclusive or exclusive

The aim of the present study was to determine whether attentional control settings operate with an inclusive rule (orient attention to stimuli that share a task-relevant feature with the target) or an exclusive rule (do not orient attention to stimuli that do not share a task-relevant feature with the target). All three experiments used a variation of the Folk and Remington (e.g., Folk, Remington, & Johnston, 1992) paradigm. In Experiment 1, cuing effects were found for combination cues (cues containing an onset feature and a color feature) with both onset and color targets. Experiment 2, using a delay between cue and target, revealed inhibition of return (IOR) for combination cues with onset and color targets. Unexpectedly, IOR was also found for onset cues with color targets, and this finding was confirmed in Experiment 3. These findings indicate that attentional control settings use an inclusive rule. Moreover, the presence of IOR with onset cues and color targets suggests that onset cues may automatically capture attention, but attention control settings allow for rapid disengagement when the onset cue does not contain a task-relevant feature.

The effects of magnesium supplementation on exercise performance

ObjectivesMagnesium (Mg) status, although difficult to assess, is suspected to be marginal in many individuals, especially athletes, and this has led to the common use of Mg supplements. The purpose of this article is to critique research that has addressed Mg supplementation in athletes. Data SourcesThe primary database was Medline, which was searched for English articles from 1966 to June 1999 using the words “magnesium” and “supplementation.” Study SelectionOnly experimental studies dealing with human subjects, Mg supplementation, and exercise performance were critiqued (n = 12). Data ExtractionQuality of critiqued articles was based on 1) use of cross-over designs, 2) how and if Mg status was assessed, 3) whether treatment was solely Mg supplementation, 4) duration of supplementation, 5) subject number, and 6) degree of experimental control. Articles were classified into “no effect” and “positive effect,” and also were examined in regard to the type of performance outcome (strength, anaerobic–lactacid, and aerobic). Data SynthesisMg is a cofactor to over 325 enzymatic reactions, and a deficiency of the mineral therefore has many physiological and exercise performance implications. Low dietary intakes, as found in many female athletes, coupled with increased urinary losses with exercise, may eventually lead to an Mg deficiency. Strength of evidence favors those studies finding no effect of Mg supplementation, regardless of whether the performance outcome was strength, anaerobic–lactacid, or aerobic. Analysis was confounded due to: 1) variable exercise modes, intensities, and durations, 2) variable training states and ages of subjects, 3) subject selection favoring males and gender differences has not been probed, 4) Mg dosage has ranged from 1 day to 3 months and from 116 mg/day to 500 mg/day, 5) multivitamins/minerals have been ingested with the Mg, 6) with one exception, 1 Mg status was either not reported or reliant on total Mg (TMg), 7) lack of a cross-over design, 8) only one study 2 made note of controlling exercise prior to exercise testing and blood assay, and 9) typical Mg intake measured was only measured in three of the studies. ConclusionsMost evidence indicates no effect of Mg supplementation on performance (strength, anaerobic–lactacid, and aerobic). When only peak treadmill speed during a VO2 max test is examined, the strength of evidence is equivocal. Trained subjects appear to benefit less than untrained subjects, but this observation requires further study. Little research has focused on physically active females who may be at the highest risk for Mg deficiency. Research has been confounded by numerous factors.

Examining location-based and object-based components of inhibition of return in static displays

Tipper and Colleagues (e.g., Jordan & Tipper, 1998; Tipper, Driver, & Weaver, 1991; Tipper, Weaver, Jerreat, & Burak, 1994) have provided support for inhibition of return (IOR) being composed of a location-based and an object-based component. They were able to separate out the effects of locationbased and object-based IOR by using complex displays and displays that involved moving the cued object. The present study was designed to further examine the object- and location-based components of IOR in static displays. Three experiments were conducted that looked at the presence or absence of placeholder boxes on IOR. The first experiment was designed to replicate the results of Jordan and Tipper by presenting both objects and no-objects in the same display. In the second experiment, trials were blocked, and in the third experiment trials were presented in a random order. Overall, the results are inconsistent with the notion that independent object-based and location-based IOR components combine to produce the overall IOR effect and that additive effects are realized due to the context in which the trials are presented. We propose that a single inhibitory mechanism can account for the data.

Examining the effect of practice on inhibition of return in static displays

In a recent article, Weaver, Lupiáñez, and Watson (1998) reported that both object-based and location-based inhibition of return effects were reduced with practice. The present study was conducted to (1) replicate the reduction of inhibition of return with practice in single-session experiments with a variety of displays and responses and (2) to examine the notion that the reduction was, at least partly, due to habituation. However, no evidence for practice-related changes in the size of the inhibitory effect were found over a series of different inhibition of return experiments using static displays (using various numbers of target locations, types of keypress responses, and number of trials). Overall, the results suggest that inhibition of return is a robust phenomenon and may not, with static displays, be especially sensitive to practice effects.

Differences in attentional set between athletes and nonathletes.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the ability to set attention is different between athletes and nonathletes. University volleyball players were compared with nonathletes on a spatial cuing task similar to that of C. L. Folk, R. W. Remington, and J. C. Johnston (1992). As expected, both groups showed evidence of entering into a specific attentional set because attentional cuing effects were found only when cues and targets shared a task-relevant feature (onset or color). In addition, the cuing effects when the cues matched the targets were greater for the athletes than for the nonathletes. The results are discussed in terms of the orienting of attention and athletic performance.

Object- and location-based inhibition of return in younger and older adults.

When a cued object moves to new spatial coordinates, inhibition of return (IOR) with younger adults is found at the original cued location (location-based IOR) and at the current location of the object (object-based IOR). Older adults, however, show only location-based IOR. To determine whether this pattern of results represents a general age-related deficit in object-based IOR, the authors used static displays in which the placeholders (i.e., objects) were either present (location-based IOR+object-based IOR) or absent (location-based IOR only). Both age groups showed location-based IOR, but the older adults failed to show object-based IOR, consistent with age-related differences in visual pathways.

The Simon effect: Evidence of a response processing “functional locus”

Abstract Three factors; stimulus-response Compatibility Degree (compatible vs. incompatible), Hand Condition (between-hand vs. within-hand finger responses) and Precue Condition (valid precue, invalid precue, no-precue) served as the main factors in a choice reaction time (RT) task where response selection was determined by letter identity (stimulus location was irrelevant). Hand Condition by Compatibility Degree was the only significant interaction obtained, reflective of the fact that the RT(compatible) procedure appears to prevent response factors from influencing the ‘spatial precue effect’ [RT(valid precue)

Evaluation of a 10-minute Version of the Attention Network Test

The widely used Java version of the Attention Network Test (ANT), which can be downloaded from https://www.sacklerinstitute.org/cornell/assays_and_tools/, takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. A shorter version would be useful in clinical or applied research settings where many tests are administered. We assessed how well a new 10-minute version of the ANT agrees with the 20-minute version. Response time (RT) measures from the shorter version correlated very highly with the corresponding measures from the 20-minute version (Pearson correlations ranging from .88 to .92). Therefore RT measures from the shorter version can safely be used in place of those same measures from the 20-minute version. Correlations for the three network scores (alerting, orienting and conflict efficiency) were not as strong (range = .10 to .53). This is not surprising, given that the network scores are difference scores. Further research is needed to determine whether adequate reliability can be achieved for the network scores without unduly increasing the length of the task.