Go/ No-Go Association Tasks (GNAT) measure a person's ability to stop an expected response (response inhibition) to a stimulus.
In an experimental situation, a researcher informs a participant to respond to a stimulus with a response (go) and to respond to another stimulus with no action (no-go). The researcher counts the number of times the participant responds to a no-go stimulus. These no-go responses are errors and the ratio of errors to presentations is the error rate. A low error rate represents strong response inhibition.
An early mention of the test appears in Donders (1868).
Example
A participant sits in front of a screen which will show a colored square (the stimulus). There is a button on the table in front of the participant. The researcher tells the participant to press the button when they see an orange square but not when they see a blue square. There are more "Go" presentations than there are "No Go" presentations thus, the habitual response is to press the button and cognitive effort is required to inhibit the button pressing response when a "No Go" stimulus appears.
Researchers vary the stimuli depending on what they want to test.
A common response type is a key on a keyboard.
Reference
Donders, F. C. (1868). Over de snelheid van psychische processen [On the speed of mental processes], Tweede reeks, 11, 92±130. Translated by WG Koster (1969). Attention and performance, 2.
Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is www.suttong.com
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