Mind-wandering in younger and older adults: Converging evidence from the sustained attention to response task and reading for comprehension.

Mind wandering is a phenomenon in which attention drifts away from a given task towards task-unrelated thoughts. Recent studies have demonstrated that mind wandering occurs during tasks in which participants are demotivated. However, motivation ranges on a continuum from trait to state. We examined the association between trait/state motivation and trait/state mind wandering. We used common questionnaires and an experience sampling method through a sustained attention response task for measuring those indices. Through correlation analyses, we demonstrated an association between motivation and mind wandering within the same dimension (trait and state, respectively) but found no association across dimensions. Our results indicate that motivation in personality affects the occurrence of daily mind wandering, but not state mind wandering, which is affected by state motivation. Although the relationship between motivation and mind wandering is substantial, mind wandering at the state-level might be a more phasic phenomenon than expected, driven by a range of factors such as state motivation.

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Self-reported Mind Wandering and Response Time Variability Differentiate Prestimulus Electroencephalogram Microstate Dynamics during a Sustained Attention Task

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01636 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 28-45

Author(s):

Anthony P. Zanesco ◽

Ekaterina Denkova ◽

Amishi P. Jha

Keyword(s):

Sustained Attention ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Response Times ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Mind Wandering ◽

Time Variability ◽

Attention Task ◽

Brain States ◽

Response Task ◽

Task Focus

Brain activity continuously and spontaneously fluctuates during tasks of sustained attention. This spontaneous activity reflects the intrinsic dynamics of neurocognitive networks, which have been suggested to differentiate moments of externally directed task focus from episodes of mind wandering. However, the contribution of specific electrophysiological brain states and their millisecond dynamics to the experience of mind wandering is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the association between electroencephalogram microstate temporal dynamics and self-reported mind wandering. Thirty-six participants completed a sustained attention to response task in which they were asked to respond to frequently occurring upright faces (nontargets) and withhold responses to rare inverted faces (targets). Intermittently, experience sampling probes assessed whether participants were focused on the task or whether they were mind wandering (i.e., off-task). Broadband electroencephalography was recorded and segmented into a time series of brain electric microstates based on data-driven clustering of topographic voltage patterns. The strength, prevalence, and rate of occurrence of specific microstates differentiated on- versus off-task moments in the prestimulus epochs of trials preceding probes. Similar associations were also evident between microstates and variability in response times. Together, these findings demonstrate that distinct microstates and their millisecond dynamics are sensitive to the experience of mind wandering.

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Age differences in sustained attention tasks: A meta-analysis

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review ◽

10.3758/s13423-021-01908-x ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Antonino Vallesi ◽

Virginia Tronelli ◽

Francesco Lomi ◽

Rachele Pezzetta

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Sustained Attention ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Stimulus Presentation ◽

Current Debate ◽

False Alarms ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Posterror Slowing ◽

Age Related ◽

Response Task

AbstractMany aspects of attention decline with aging. There is a current debate on how aging also affects sustained attention. In this study, we contribute to this debate by meta-analytically comparing performance on the go/no-go Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) in younger and older adults. We included only studies in which the SART had a low proportion of no-go trials (5%–30%), there was a random or quasirandom stimulus presentation, and data on both healthy younger and older adults were available. A total of 12 studies were suitable with 832 younger adults and 690 older adults. Results showed that older adults were slower than younger adults on go trials (g = 1, 95% CI [.72, 1.27]) and more accurate than younger adults on no-go trials (g = .59, 95% CI [.32, .85]). Moreover, older adults were slower after a no-go error than younger adults (g = .79, 95% CI [.60, .99]). These results are compatible with an age-related processing speed deficit, mostly suggested by longer go RTs, but also with an increased preference for a prudent strategy, as demonstrated by fewer no-go errors and greater posterror slowing in older adults. An inhibitory deficit account could not explain these findings, as older adults actually outperformed younger adults by producing fewer false alarms to no-go stimuli. These findings point to a more prudent strategy when using attentional resources in aging that allows reducing the false-alarm rate in tasks producing a tendency for automatic responding.

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