Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2025
06:45
Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal
Published on: April 18, 2017
6.2K
Experience sampling reveals the role that covert goal states play in task-relevant behavior
Brontë Mckeown1, Will H Strawson2, Meichao Zhang3
1Psychology Department, Queen's University, Kingston, K7L 3N6, Canada. bronte.mckeown@queensu.ca.
Scientific Reports
|December 8, 2023
Summary
Experience sampling reveals how covert goal-relevant states support task performance. Deliberate task focus, linked to the fronto-parietal network, enhances target detection.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Psychology
Background:
- Experience sampling traditionally focuses on off-task states.
- Covert processes are crucial for maintaining task-relevant states.
- Understanding these states is key to cognitive function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if experience sampling can reveal covert goal-relevant states.
- To examine neural correlates of overt and covert states in a common space.
- To link individual variations in states to task performance.
Main Methods:
- Developed a neural state space to analyze brain activity.
- Utilized experience sampling to identify covert states.
- Correlated neural activity with subjective reports and task performance.
Main Results:
- Deliberate task focus correlated with faster target detection.
- Task-focused brain states involved the fronto-parietal network.
- Off-task states were associated with the default mode network.
Conclusions:
- Experience sampling can illuminate covert task-relevant states.
- The fronto-parietal network is vital for maintaining covert task focus.
- This approach offers insights into cognitive control and attention.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:21Cognitive Learning
243
Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
243
01:13Nonconscious Mimicry
4.6K
Nonconscious mimicry occurs when individuals alter their mannerisms to match the behaviors and expressions of those nearby, without intention.
4.6K
01:22Purposive Learning
121
E. C. Tolman emphasized the purposiveness of behavior — the idea that much of our behavior is goal-directed. For instance, employees who aim for a promotion work diligently to meet their targets. Tolman argued that when classical conditioning and operant conditioning occur, the organism acquires certain expectations. In classical conditioning, a child might fear a dog because they expect it to bite. In operant conditioning, a person might consistently work overtime because they expect a...
121
01:19High-Level and Low-Level Awareness
273
Controlled processes in human consciousness represent high-alert mental states where individuals deliberately focus their attention on achieving specific goals. Controlled processes can be seen in situations like mastering new technology, where a person might become so absorbed that they ignore surrounding distractions. Such processes involve selective attention, requiring one to concentrate on particular elements of experience while disregarding others. These are governed by executive...
273
04:49Robbers Cave
14.3K
During the 1950s, the landmark Robbers Cave experiment demonstrated that when groups must compete with one another, intergroup conflict, hostility, and even violence may result. At the Oklahoman summer camp, two troops of boys—termed the Rattlers and the Eagles—took part in a week-long tournament. During this time, their negativity culminated in derogatory name-calling, fistfights, and even vandalism and destruction of property. However, this work also revealed that such tension...
14.3K
02:30Naturalistic Observations
15.4K
If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...
15.4K