Comparison of Test D2 with Electroencephalographic Signals to Measure Attention and Concentration in University Students

Abstract

The objective of the experiment is to register the electroencephalographic signals (EEG) during the application of a selective attention test to measure the level of attention and concentration that university students have. The test that has been selected for this work is the called D2 attention test. The D2 is a time-limited test that assesses selective attention through a cancellation task. It measures the processing speed, the following of instructions and the goodness of the execution in a discrimination task of similar visual stimuli. For this experiment the data is coming from 10 undergraduate participants. A commercial headband called “Muse headband” was used, which allows us to acquire EEG signals in real time while applying the d2 attention test. When evaluating the test, a relationship can be observed between the EEG signals taken during the application of the test, this indicates that it is possible to obtain a favorable result to measure the level of attention through this type of signals without the need of the D2 test application, this is thinking in future measurements can be done for future works. As a result, in comparison of the application of the D2 test and the EEG signals, a correlation was found between the scores of the hand-made test and the increase or decrease of brain activity. Frequently denoting the cerebral electrical activity remained according to the current state of the participants in their different stages of concentration and results calculated in the D2 test of attention.