Testing thought-probe frequency for measuring mind-wandering along with vigilance and cognitive control loss: A study...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Experimental Psychology

Background:

• Vigilance decrement, a decline in sustained attention, increases errors and accidents during prolonged tasks.
• Existing experimental tasks do not simultaneously assess vigilance, cognitive control, and mind-wandering over time.
• Understanding these interactions is crucial for evaluating theories of vigilance decrement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt the Attentional Network Test for Interactions and Vigilance-executive and arousal components (ANTI-Vea) task to integrate mind-wandering measures.
• To identify an optimal thought probe (TP) frequency for capturing mind-wandering changes without interfering with vigilance measurement.
• To provide an integrative assessment of changes in mind-wandering, cognitive control, and vigilance across time-on-task.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted: one in a laboratory (N=90) and one online (N=180).
• Participants completed the adapted ANTI-Vea task with thought probes (TPs) inserted at varying frequencies (4, 8, or 12 TPs per block).
• Vigilance, cognitive control, and mind-wandering were assessed across time-on-task.

Main Results:

• The inclusion of thought probes effectively detected changes in mind-wandering over time-on-task.
• TP frequency did not significantly impact mind-wandering reports, vigilance, or cognitive control.
• The adapted task provides a viable method for assessing these cognitive components simultaneously.

Conclusions:

• The developed ANTI-Vea-TP task is suitable for investigating the interplay between vigilance, cognitive control, and mind-wandering.
• This tool can be utilized in both laboratory and online settings.
• The findings support the utility of this integrated approach for understanding vigilance decrement.