Cancellation Task
Participants scan a dense, static array and mark (cross out / tap) every instance of one or more target items embedded among distractors, working through the whole field under a time limit. Unlike classic visual search — which asks for a present/absent decision per display and reads efficiency off the set-size slope — cancellation requires exhaustive marking of all targets, so it indexes selective and sustained attention, visual scanning, and processing speed rather than search-decision time. A staple of clinical neuropsychology (e.g. the Bourdon–Zazzo “deux barrages”, d2, Bells, and Star Cancellation tests; “barrage” is the French term for the paradigm) and of developmental reading-attention assessment. A variant of visual search, but distinct in what it measures.
- Attention
Indexed implementations 0
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No implementation indexed for this paradigm yet.
Key references
- Della Sala, S., Laiacona, M., Spinnler, H., & Ubezio, C. (1992). A cancellation test: its reliability in assessing attentional deficits in Alzheimer’s disease. Psychological Medicine, 22(4), 885-901. doi:10.1017/s0033291700038460
- Huang, H.-C., & Wang, T.-Y. (2009). Stimulus effects on cancellation task performance in children with and without dyslexia. Behavior Research Methods, 41(2), 539-545. doi:10.3758/BRM.41.2.539