Psychological Evaluation of Attention Indices and Directed Visual Perception Using Neurofeedback Training.

Abstract

The goal of the study was to psychologically assess the overall ability to be attentive during the prolonged focus of oriented visual perception during task performance. Attention and oriented visual perception significantly enhance task performance. Forty students in the early stages of military university studies participated in the study. The Vienna Test System examining general attention, continuity of attention, and directed visual tracking was used. The study involved two measurements (before and after 20 attention training sessions using the neurofeedback method). The psychological ability to select stimuli and maintain continuous attention was assessed to determine cognitive readiness for the task and the focus and accuracy of visual recognition. A psychological evaluation of the attention and oriented visual perception showed that the neurofeedback contributed to reducing the task completion time (p < .050), the time of correctly accepted stimuli, the time of incorrect responses, increasing the sum of correct responses, and the median of correct answers determined compared to time limit. An improvement was found in maintaining attention when performing a repetitive task over a long period of time and matching task completion time with maintaining attentiveness.