Dot Probe

In this task, a pair of faces, one threat-related and one either neutral or happy, are shown briefly side-by-side. A small probe replaces one of the faces immediately following offset. Participants are then required to respond as quickly as possible by pressing keys on a keyboard to indicate which face was replaced by a dot without compromising accuracy. The face stimuli are usually photographs of 16 different individuals (8 male, 8 female) taken from the NimStim set.

Note: The Dot Probe is administered to children and adults ages 6-85 years old.

References: Abend, R., Pine, D.S., Bar-Haim, Y. (2014). The TAU-NIMH Attention Bias Measurement Toolbox. Retrieved from http://people.socsci.tau.ac.il/mu/anxietytrauma/research/.

MacLeod, C., Mathews, A., & Tata, P. (1986). Attentional bias in emotional disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, 15-20. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.95.1.15