Abstract
The attentional network test (ANT) uses flanker stimuli with different cue conditions to quantify differences in attentional processing. However, it is unclear precisely how the alerting and orienting cues in the task affect different decision processes. The present study leveraged computational modeling to identify the relationship between attentional cues and decision components. ANT data from a large sample of 156 participants were analyzed using the spotlight diffusion model, which quantifies decision components for response caution, motor/encoding time, perceptual processing, and attentional control. The spotlight analysis showed that the attentional cues had multiple effects on decision processing. Compared to the no cue condition, an alerting cue led to faster encoding/motor speed, improved perceptual processing, and increased attentional focusing. The orienting cue further led to a decrease in response caution and increased encoding/motor speed and attentional focusing to reduce interference from incompatible flankers. Improvements in RTs can stem from multiple factors, so it is important to have a method to delineate these factors and determine which ones are driving differences in behavior. This analysis demonstrates that alerting and orienting cues have complex effects on decision processes that are not captured by simple differences in RTs, and that model-based analyses can delineate such effects to allow researchers to identify precisely how attentional processing varies across individuals or conditions in tasks like the ANT. Future work investigating differences in cognitive processing can benefit from the incorporation of model-based analyses to provide greater insight into the underlying factors that drive task performance.