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Updated: Apr 18, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Anti-distraction learning: focused attention, task engagement, and flow under cognitive interference.

Shengying Yang¹, Sinian Chen², Jing Gui³

¹School of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Frontiers in Psychology

|April 17, 2026

Summary

Flow experience can persist despite frequent interruptions. Focused attention, not task engagement, is key to maintaining immersion amid cognitive interference and environmental noise in learning.

Keywords:

cognitive interference environmental noise flow experience focused attention immersion task engagement

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Published on: July 16, 2015

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Published on: December 5, 2014

Area of Science:

Psychology
Cognitive Science
Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

Flow experience is typically sustained in distraction-free environments.
Contemporary learning and work settings often involve persistent interruptions like notifications and task switching.
Less research exists on how immersion (flow) emerges amidst continuous interference.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between cognitive interference, environmental noise, and flow experience.
To examine the mediating roles of focused attention and task engagement in this relationship.
To understand how immersion can be sustained in interference-rich contemporary learning environments.

Main Methods:

Survey data collected from 647 individuals engaged in everyday learning activities.
Cognitive interference and environmental noise modeled as contextual conditions.
Focused attention and task engagement analyzed as mediating mechanisms using hierarchical regression and bootstrap mediation tests.

Main Results:

Both cognitive interference and environmental noise significantly relate to flow experience, even with mediators included.
Focused attention strongly predicts flow and mediates the link between interference and immersion.
Task engagement supports continued activity but has a weaker, negative indirect effect on flow.

Conclusions:

Immersive experience (flow) can persist despite ongoing disruptions.
Attentional regulation, specifically focused attention, is crucial for sustaining immersion under interference.
Flow in modern learning contexts may arise from repeated attentional stabilization, not solely from distraction-free settings.