scholarly journals Pre-trial Gaze Stability Predicts Momentary Slips of Attention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Zhang ◽  
John Jonides
Keyword(s):  
Response Times ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Search Array ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Fixation Cross ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Gaze Stability ◽  
Manual Responses ◽  
Thought Probes

Our ability to maintain focus on a task waxes and wanes. Recent research suggests that eye-tracking may be a useful tool to capture the momentary slips of attention. In this paper, we show that pre-trial gaze stability predicted momentary slips of attention on the upcoming trial. In two visual search tasks, we asked participants to stabilize their gaze on a fixation cross before the search array appeared. We recorded participants’ manual responses and eye movements as they searched for the target. We also occasionally presented thought probes to examine whether participants were mind-wandering on a subset of trials. Results from the two tasks revealed a converging pattern: lower pre-trial gaze stability predicted worse performance in the upcoming trial. Specifically, participants had longer response times, were more influenced by distractors, and inspected the target for a longer duration. Participants also reported greater mind-wandering at the end of the trial if they had low pre-trial gaze stability. Overall, these findings suggest that pre-trial gaze stability is a simple and objective measure that can predict moments of inattention, which may be used to proactively curb its negative effects before the actual task starts.

scholarly journals Local use-dependent activity triggers mind wandering: resource depletion or executive dysfunction?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esperanza Jubera-Garcia ◽  
Luc Vermeylen ◽  
Philippe Peigneux ◽  
wim gevers ◽  
Filip Van Opstal
Keyword(s):  
Objective Measure ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Executive Dysfunction ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Pupillary Response ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
Thought Probes ◽  
Local Use

Mind wandering (MW) is a highly prevalent phenomenon despite its negative consequences on behaviour. Current views about its origin share the idea that MW occurs due to changes in the executive functions system. Here, we argue that not all instances of MW are necessarily related to changes in that system. Combining results from MW and sleep research, we propose that MW could also be initiated by the depletion of resources in primary task-related networks. To test this hypothesis, participants performed four sessions of the texture discrimination task (TDT) on a day. The TDT is a perceptual learning task in which performance is related to the local build-up of sleep-pressure. During the TDT, MW was recorded in both a subjective (i.e., with thought probes) and an objective (i.e., phasic pupillary response) manner. Results showed that the pattern of behaviour in the TDT was mirrored in the objective measure of MW. Also for the subjective measure the pattern was similar to that of task performance, but it failed to reach significance. These results demonstrate that not all MW is necessarily related to changes in the executive system and support the hypothesis that MW can be related to the depletion of local resources.

scholarly journals Targeted Memory Reactivation during Mind-Wandering in Younger and Older Adults

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Nicosia
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Cued Recall ◽  
Paired Associates ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Episodic Memories ◽  
Thought Probes

Mind-wandering (MW) is a universal cognitive process that is estimated to comprise ~30% of our everyday thoughts. Despite its prevalence, the functional utility of MW remains a scientific blind spot. The present study sought to investigate whether MW serves a functional role in cognition. Specifically, we investigated whether MW contributes to memory consolidation processes, and if age differences in the ability to reactivate episodic memories during MW may contribute to age-related declines in episodic memory. Younger and older adults encoded paired associates, received targeted reactivation cues during an interval filled with a task which promotes MW, and were tested on their memory for the cued and uncued stimuli from the initial encoding task. Thought probes were presented during the retention (MW) interval to assess participants’ thought contents. Across three experiments, we compared the effect of different cue modalities (i.e., auditory, visual) on cued recall performance, and examined both correct retrieval response times as well as accuracy. Across experiments, there was evidence that stimuli that were cued during the MW task were correctly retrieved more quickly than uncued stimuli and that this effect was more robust for younger adults than older adults. Additionally, the more MW a participant reported during the retention interval, the stronger the cueing effect they produced during retrieval. The results from these experiments are interpreted within a retrieval facilitation framework wherein cues serve to reactivate the earlier traces during MW, and this reactivation benefits retrieval speed for cued items as compared to uncued items.

EXPRESS: Bored, distracted and forgetful – The impact of mind wandering and boredom on memory encoding

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110263
Author(s):  
Philippe Blondé ◽  
Marco Sperduti ◽  
Dominique Makowski ◽  
Pascale Piolino
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Memory Encoding ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Thought Probes ◽  
The Impact

Mind wandering, defined as focusing attention toward task unrelated thoughts, is a common mental state known to impair memory encoding. This phenomenon is closely linked to boredom. Very few studies, however, have tested the potential impact of boredom on memory encoding. Thus, the present study aimed at manipulating mind wandering and boredom during an incidental memory encoding task, to test their differential impact on memory encoding. Thirty-two participants performed a variant of the n-back task in which they had to indicate if the current on-screen object was the same as the previous one (1-back; low working memory load) or the one presented three trials before (3-back; high working memory load). Moreover, thought probes assessing either mind wandering or boredom were randomly presented. Afterward, a surprise recognition task was delivered. Results showed that mind wandering and boredom were highly correlated, and both decreased in the high working memory load condition, while memory performance increased. Although both boredom and mind wandering predicted memory performance taken separately, we found that mind wandering was the only reliable predictor of memory performance when controlling for boredom and working memory load. Model comparisons also revealed that a model with boredom only was outperformed by a model with mind wandering only and a model with both mind wandering and boredom, suggesting that the predictive contribution of boredom in the complete model is minimal. The present results confirm the high correlation between mind wandering and boredom and suggest that the hindering effect of boredom on memory is subordinate to the effect of mind wandering.

scholarly journals The validity of the online thought-probing procedure of mind wandering is not threatened by variations of probe rate and probe framing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Lena Schubert ◽  
Gidon T. Frischkorn ◽  
Jan Rummel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Time Variability ◽  
Ongoing Task ◽  
Reaction Time Variability ◽  
Measurement Variation ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Great Heterogeneity ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Thought Probes

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the measurement of mind-wandering during ongoing tasks. The frequently used online thought-probing procedure (OTPP), in which individuals are probed on whether their thoughts are on-task or not while performing an ongoing task, has repeatedly been criticized, because variations in the frequency of thought probes and the order in which on-task and off-task thoughts are referred to have been shown to affect mind-wandering rates. Hitherto, it is unclear whether this susceptibility to measurement variation only affects mean response rates in probe-caught mind-wandering or poses an actual threat to the validity of the OTPP, endangering the replicability and generalizability of study results. Here we show in a sample of 177 students that variations of the frequency or framing of thought probes do not affect the validity of the OTPP. While we found that more frequent thought probing reduced the rate of probe-caught mind-wandering, we did not replicate the effect that mind-wandering is more likely to be reported when off-task thoughts are referred to first rather than second. Crucially, associations between probe-caught mind-wandering and task performance, as well as associations between probe-caught mind-wandering and covariates (trait mind-wandering, reaction-time variability in the metronome-response task, working-memory capacity) did not change with variations of the probing procedure. Therefore, it seems unlikely that the great heterogeneity in the way the OTPP is implemented across different studies endangers the replicability and generalizability of study results. Data and analysis code are available at https://osf.io/7w8bm/.

scholarly journals Refixation Patterns of Mind-wandering during Real-world Scene Perception

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Zhang ◽  
Nicola C Anderson ◽  
Kevin Miller
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Real World ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Scene Perception ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Quantification Analysis ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Thought Probes

Recent studies have shown that mind-wandering (MW) is associated with changes in eye movement parameters, but have not explored how MW affects the sequential pattern of eye movements involved in making sense of complex visual information. Eye movements naturally unfold over time and this process may reveal novel information about cognitive processing during MW. The current study used Recurrence Quantification Analysis (Anderson, Bischof, Laidlaw, Risko, & Kingstone, 2013) to describe the pattern of refixations (fixations directed to previously-inspected regions) during MW. Participants completed a real-world scene encoding task and responded to thought probes assessing intentional and unintentional MW. Both types of MW were associated with worse memory of the scenes. Importantly, RQA showed that scanpaths during unintentional MW were more repetitive than during on-task episodes, as indicated by a higher recurrence rate and more stereotypical fixation sequences. This increased repetitiveness suggests an adaptive response to processing failures through re-examining previous locations. Moreover, this increased repetitiveness contributed to fixations focusing on a smaller spatial scale of the stimuli. Finally, we were also able to validate several traditional measures: both intentional and unintentional MW were associated with fewer and longer fixations; Eye-blinking increased numerically during both types of MW but the difference was only significant for unintentional MW. Overall, the results advanced our understanding of how visual processing is affected during MW by highlighting the sequential aspect of eye movements.

scholarly journals Effect of tDCS over the Right Inferior Parietal Lobule on Mind-Wandering Propensity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Coulborn ◽  
Howard Bowman ◽  
Chris Miall ◽  
Davinia Fernández-Espejo
Keyword(s):  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Inferior Parietal Lobule ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Parietal Lobule ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Thought Probes ◽  
The Right ◽  
Subjective Reports

Mind-wandering is associated with switching our attention to internally directed thoughts and is by definition an intrinsic, self-generated cognitive function. Interestingly, previous research showed that it may be possible to modulate its propensity externally, with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting different regions in the default mode and executive control networks. However, these studies used highly heterogeneous montages (targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL), or both concurrently), often showed contradicting results, and in many cases failed to replicate. Our study aimed to establish whether tDCS of the default mode network, via targeting the right IPL alone, could modulate mind-wandering propensity using a within-subjects double-blind, counterbalanced design. Participants completed a sustained attention to response task (SART) interspersed with thought-probes to capture their subjective reports of mind-wandering before and after receiving anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS over the right IPL (with the reference over the left cheek). We found evidence for the lack of an effect of stimulation on subjective reports of mind-wandering (JZS-BF01 = 5.19), as well as on performance on the SART task (errors (JZS-BF01 = 6.79) and reaction time (JZS-BF01 = 5.94). Overall, we failed to replicate previous reports of successful modulations of mind-wandering propensity with tDCS over the IPL, instead providing evidence in support of the lack of an effect. This, and other recent unsuccessful replications call into question whether it is indeed possible to externally modulate spontaneous or self-generated cognitive processes.

The Influence of Visual-Manual Distractions on Anticipatory Driving

2020 ◽  
pp. 001872082093889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dengbo He ◽  
Birsen Donmez
Keyword(s):  
Road Safety ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Novice Drivers ◽  
Driving Experience ◽  
Vehicle Systems ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Recognition And Response

Objective The aim of this study is to investigate how anticipatory driving is influenced by distraction. Background The anticipation of future events in traffic can allow potential gains in recognition and response times. Anticipatory actions (i.e., control actions in preparation for potential traffic changes) have been found to be more prevalent among experienced drivers in simulator studies when driving was the sole task. Despite the prevalence of visual-manual distractions and their negative effects on road safety, their influence on anticipatory driving has not yet been investigated beyond hazard anticipation. Methods A simulator experiment was conducted with 16 experienced and 16 novice drivers. Half of the participants were provided with a self-paced visual-manual secondary task presented on a dashboard display. Results More anticipatory actions were observed among experienced drivers; experienced drivers also exhibited more efficient visual scanning behaviors as indicated by higher glance rates toward and percent times looking at cues that facilitate the anticipation of upcoming events. Regardless of experience, those with the secondary task displayed reduced anticipatory actions and paid less attention toward anticipatory cues. However, experienced drivers had lower odds of exhibiting long glances toward the secondary task compared to novices. Further, the inclusion of glance duration on anticipatory cues increased the accuracy of a model predicting anticipatory actions based on on-road glance durations. Conclusion The results provide additional evidence to existing literature supporting the role of driving experience and distraction engagement in anticipatory driving. Application These findings can guide the design of in-vehicle systems and guide training programs to support anticipatory driving.

When visual search target is rare: overweighting or under weighting the probability?

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 1520-1524
Author(s):  
Hanshu Zhang ◽  
Joseph W. Houpt
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Threshold Model ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Target Presence ◽  
Model Assumption ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Low Prevalence

The prevalence of items in visual search may have substantial performance consequences. In laboratory visual search tasks in which the target is rare, viewers are likely to miss the target. A dual-threshold model proposed by Wolfe and Van Wert (2010) assumes that in the low prevalence condition, viewers shift their criteria resulting in more miss errors. However, from the prospective of prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979), decision makers tend to overweight small probability. To explore how viewers subjectively weight the probability in the low prevalence visual search task, we compared viewers’ criteria with the optimal criteria by presenting different probability descriptions for a fixed prevalence rate. The data from this experiment indicated that target presence had an effect on viewers’ accuracy and response times but not probability descriptions. Viewers’ criteria under different probability descriptions were higher than optimal. These results are in accordance with the dual-threshold model assumption that viewers respond “target absent” more frequently than optimal, leading to more miss errors in the low prevalence condition.

A Search for Search Asymmetry in Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes)

1993 ◽  
Vol 76 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1287-1295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaki Tomonaga
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Pan Troglodytes ◽  
Display Size ◽  
Response Times ◽  
The Other ◽  
Search Asymmetry ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Other Hand

Two chimpanzees and two humans were trained on visual search tasks with several sets of geometric forms composed of 1 and 2 elements (graphemes). When the double-grapheme item was the target and single grapheme item was the distractor, both chimpanzees and humans searched the target quickly irrespective of the display size. On the other hand, when the single-grapheme item was the target and double-grapheme item was the distractor, they showed an increase in response times as a function of the display size on some sets of stimuli. These results were considered as evidence for search asymmetry by chimpanzees.

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