The Sustained Attention to Response Task, often abbreviated as SART, is a psychological test used to measure a person’s ability to maintain focused attention over prolonged periods of time. It’s particularly useful for assessing the tendency to become distracted or to make impulsive errors.
Think of the SART as a long, monotonous drive on a straight highway. The task is to stay alert and responsive to occasional signs (targets) that require a specific action, like slowing down or changing lanes, while most of the time the road (non-targets) requires just steady driving.
In the actual SART, participants are typically presented with a series of numbers on a screen and asked to respond as quickly as possible to all numbers except one (the target). The task is designed to be monotonous to encourage mind-wandering and lapses of attention, making it a good measure of a person’s ability to sustain focus.