Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Lorenzo Ariel Galán | Email: lorenzogalan43@gmail.com
Federico M. Gonzalez1°2°, Lorenzo A. Galan1°, Debora Burin1°2°
1° Instituto de Investigaciones, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aires
2° CONICET
Traditional attention control paradigms, while experimentally consistent, often fail to capture individual differences, leading to ongoing debates about the construct. To address this issue, the Engle lab developed the “squared tasks”. Additionally, online research is expanding due to its cost-effectiveness and access to large samples, but it faces different challenges than controlled lab studies. In this study, 237 first-year psychology students completed, remotely and unsupervised, the three tasks. These are three-minute versions of traditional paradigms (Stroop, Flanker, and Simon) that Include incongruences not just at the stimuli level but also in the response options. Twenty-four cases (10%) were excluded due to very low scores (inferred as lack of comprehension/intention). The split-half reliability was .91 for Stroop, .93 for Flanker, and .72 for Simon. Differences in hit rates between congruent and incongruent conditions aligned with expectations for Stroop (OR=10.83, p<.001) and Flanker (OR=3.68, p<.001), but not for Simon (OR=1.24, p= .549), which exhibited a ceiling effect. Additionally, there were positive and significant correlations between the three tasks (Stroop-Flanker: r=.32, p<.001; Flanker-Simon: r=.27, p<.001; Stroop-Simon: r=.27, p<.001). In conclusion, the Squared tasks of attentional control, implemented online with an Argentine sample, demonstrated good psychometric properties and performed as expected, particularly for the Stroop and Flanker tasks.