Behavioral Measures

Emotional Face N-Back (EFNBack) Task

The EFNBack task is an emotional working memory task developed to test the impact of emotionally salient distracters (emotional faces) on attentional control processes. The task measures the participant’s ability to direct attention away from the emotional faces to focus on a cognitive task.

The EFNBack task presents a series of slides composed of a single letter in the middle, and an emotional face on the left and right. The task is broken up into two blocks; 1-back and 2-back. Participants must match the letter on the screen with the one presented one or two items before, depending on the block.

This task has been used in children as young as 8 through adulthood. It can be administered at a computer or in an fMRI scanner.

To obtain a copy of the EFNBack task for non-profit research purposes, email Dr. Cecile Ladouceur.

Cite the task as: Ladouceur, C. D., Silk, J. S., Dahl, R. E., Ostapenko, L., Kronhaus, D. M., Phillips, M. L. (2009). Fearful faces influence attentional control processes in anxious youth and adults. Emotion, 9, 855-64. doi: 10.1037/a0017747

Other Behavioral Measures Used

Emotional Face Labeling 

Choice Threat

Delay Discounting