###### Abstract
We also asked them to carry out the Attention Network Test (ANT) [12; 13], a well-known computerized task that provides separate scores for three distinct attentional networks: alerting, orienting, and conflict/executive control. These scores are believed to index rather independent functional components of attention [14; 15] (but see [16; 17] for evidence for interactions across the three networks) and have been studied extensively from a behavioral and neuropsychological perspective (e.g., [12; 18; 19]). Furthermore, past studies have differentiated these three networks of attention based on their genetic underpinnings and the neurotransmitters involved ([20; 21; 22; 23]). The alerting network refers to the ability of an individual to maintain alertness in order to perceive and process an upcoming stimulus faster [24]. This ability relies on superior parietal, right frontal and thalamic brain areas [14] and is typically present by 3 months of age [25]. The ANT measures what is known as phasic alertness, which refers to the ability of an individual to develop response readiness to a target after the appearance of a warning signal, in tasks where reaction time is measured [26]. Studies have shown that blocking the norepinephrine system in the brain prevents the normal function of warning signals (e.g., [27]), verifying the involvement of this neurotransmitter in alerting [25]. The orienting function of attention refers to the ability of an individual to transfer focus from the central fixation to the expected location of the upcoming stimulus [16; 28]. Findings from past research indicated that there is no change in orienting efficiency to an upcoming perceptual target after the age of 6 compared to adulthood [13]. Ref. [29] suggested that the orienting network is related to activity in the temporal-parietal junction, frontal eye fields (FEF), and superior parietal lobule. Using the ANT, the authors of [30] verified the existence of activations in such areas, except for the right temporal-parietal junction. The orienting network is believed to implicate the cholinergic neurotransmitter system [31]. The executive control network is the attentional system responsible for identifying and resolving cognitive conflicts and exerting cognitive inhibition. Thus, its efficiency is typically examined with tasks that require responding to a target while suppressing other conflicting stimuli that are presented simultaneously as distractors. It is supported by activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate [32]; both areas rely heavily on the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system [19]. Studies have shown that although executive control develops substantially through childhood, there is little change in conflict scores from 7 years of age and onwards [13]. Although we considered all three networks of attention relevant to the VR Goalkeeper task we used in the current study, we expected that orienting would be the most likely from the three attentional skills to predict successful performance. Given that the balls are shot from a distance (i.e., outside the penalty box), we assumed that participants would have adequate time to recover from any lapses of alerting, as well as to overcome potential response conflict. Still, of interest was to determine whether alerting and conflict resolution would account for unique variance in the VR Goalkeeper task beyond that explained from orienting. In addition to ANT measures and given that the VR Goalkeeper task employed is essentially a Go/No-Go task (i.e., an inhibitory control task as the goalkeeper needs to make a motor response to the target ball and withhold a response to the non-target, distracting balls), we compared performance in the VR task with performance on a more traditional computerized Go/No-Go task, namely the Whack-a-Mole task, in which optimal performance requires efficient response inhibition.