We proposed a new, self-developed paradigm where participants have to search through an array, similar to a chessboard, filled with numbers starting from one to a pre-established amount, presenting every number only once. We argue that this method is great in many ways, one great application is to separate the subcomponents of attentional biases for threat.
The number matrix also allows for testing both the salience and the executive control networks. Finding number one is a simple visual search task of a target among distractors and would require attention orienting and would rely more on bottom-up processes, i.e. the physical difference between the target and the distractors. Searching through the array, similarly to the trail-making task, would require working memory capacity and the ability to control activation.
The matrix generator program is freely accessible from here.
Special thanks to Dr. Aron Barath for his constant help and work on the program.
