Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Metacognition

Metacognition

Metacognition is a conscious process where individuals are aware of their cognitive and executive processes, such as planning before solving a problem or self-monitoring during reading. For instance, a writer may need help with composing a piece. The situation involves a writer who is working on a piece of writing, but while doing so, they realize that something is missing. They notice that their characters lack depth or details. This realization occurs because the writer is reflecting on their...

Binet's Contribution to Measures of Intelligence

Binet's Contribution to Measures of Intelligence

Alfred Binet, along with his student Théophile Simon, was tasked by the French Ministry of Education in 1904 to create a method for identifying students who struggled to learn through conventional classroom instruction. This initiative aimed to address overcrowding by placing such students in specialized schools. Binet and Simon developed an intelligence test comprising 30 tasks, ranging from simple commands, like touching one's nose or ear, to more complex tasks, such as drawing...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Functional brain biomarkers of self-referential bias in remitted depressed outpatients: a randomized controlled trial.

NeuroImage. Clinical·2026

Same author

Depression vulnerability and gray matter integrity of interoceptive networks in remitted depressed outpatients.

Journal of affective disorders·2025

Same author

ENIGMA-Meditation: Worldwide Consortium for Neuroscientific Investigations of Meditation Practices.

Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging·2024

Same author

Within-Person Modulation of Neural Networks following Interoceptive Awareness Training through Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT): A Pilot Study.

Brain sciences·2023

Same author

Interoceptive Awareness of the Breath Preserves Attention and Language Networks amidst Widespread Cortical Deactivation: A Within-Participant Neuroimaging Study.

eNeuro·2023

Same author

An experimental test of the mindfulness-to-meaning theory: Casual pathways between decentering, reappraisal, and well-being.

Emotion (Washington, D.C.)·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 18, 2025

Uncovering Beat Deafness: Detecting Rhythm Disorders with Synchronized Finger Tapping and Perceptual Timing Tasks

Uncovering Beat Deafness: Detecting Rhythm Disorders with Synchronized Finger Tapping and Perceptual Timing Tasks

Published on: March 16, 2015

The Metronome Counting Task for measuring meta-awareness.

Thomas Anderson¹, Norman A S Farb²

¹Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 27 King's College Cir, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H7, Canada. metathomas.anderson@mail.utoronto.ca.

Behavior Research Methods

|June 11, 2020

Summary

Researchers developed the Metronome Counting Task (MCT) to dynamically measure meta-awareness loss. This new tool tracks attention failures and mind-wandering, offering insights into sustained attention and task engagement.

Keywords:

Attention Continuous performance task Meta-awareness Mind-wandering Task-engagement

More Related Videos

Bouncing Ball with a Uniformly Varying Velocity in a Metronome Synchronization Task

Bouncing Ball with a Uniformly Varying Velocity in a Metronome Synchronization Task

Published on: September 21, 2017

Combining Behavior and EEG to Study the Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Episodic Memory

Combining Behavior and EEG to Study the Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Episodic Memory

Published on: May 11, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 18, 2025

Uncovering Beat Deafness: Detecting Rhythm Disorders with Synchronized Finger Tapping and Perceptual Timing Tasks

Uncovering Beat Deafness: Detecting Rhythm Disorders with Synchronized Finger Tapping and Perceptual Timing Tasks

Published on: March 16, 2015

Bouncing Ball with a Uniformly Varying Velocity in a Metronome Synchronization Task

Bouncing Ball with a Uniformly Varying Velocity in a Metronome Synchronization Task

Published on: September 21, 2017

Combining Behavior and EEG to Study the Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Episodic Memory

Combining Behavior and EEG to Study the Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Episodic Memory

Published on: May 11, 2020

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Psychology

Background:

Measuring the loss of meta-awareness dynamically is challenging.
Existing tools capture self-caught awareness restoration and mind-wandering but not the gradual loss of awareness.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a novel tool, the Metronome Counting Task (MCT), for dynamically measuring meta-awareness.
To integrate three existing paradigms into a single, continuous performance task.

Main Methods:

The Metronome Counting Task (MCT) involves participants tapping to a metronome beat while counting to 20.
Participants signal the final count with a special button press.
Response variability was used as a metric for mind-wandering depth.

Main Results:

The MCT successfully allowed participants to self-identify task failures.
A response variability metric effectively recreated mind-wandering depth.
Dynamic performance changes in the MCT may detect meta-awareness loss before internal or external detection.

Conclusions:

The MCT is a viable tool for supporting neuroimaging models of sustained attention.
It links subjective meta-awareness experiences with objective behavioral measures of task engagement.
Mind-wandering may be reconceptualized as shifts in goal priority rather than solely attention failures.