Unreliability of the dot probe task

TLDR

The dot probe task is a widely used measure of attention allocation to threatening stimuli. The present two studies examine the reliability of different versions of this task using words and pictures as stimulus material. The studies assessed internal consistency and one‑week retest reliability of the dot probe task. Estimates of internal consistency and one‑week retest reliability indicate the dot probe task is completely unreliable in non‑clinical samples, which may explain inconsistent findings in the literature. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

The dot probe task is a widely used measure of attention allocation to threatening stimuli. The present two studies examine the reliability of different versions of this task using words as well as pictures as stimulus material. Estimates of both internal consistency and retest reliability over one week lead to the conclusion that the dot probe task is a completely unreliable measure of attentional allocation in non‐clinical samples. This unreliability may explain the inconsistent findings for the dot probe task as reported in the literature. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.