Sustained Attention To Response Task Performance Research Articles

Are Mindfulness and Mind-Wandering Opposite Constructs? It Depends on How Mindfulness is Conceptualised.

This study investigated if trait mindfulness and its components, mindful attention, acceptance, and non-judging correlate negatively with self-reported and indirect markers of mind-wandering. The 552 participants of the study completed an anonymous online questionnaire consisting of trait mindfulness and mind-wandering scales. They also completed the computer-based Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), an objective measure of mind-wandering. The total mindfulness score and acceptance and non-judging subscale scores were strongly negatively correlated with both self-reported trait mind-wandering (TMW) and SART indices of mind-wandering. In contrast, attention was significantly positively correlated with both. These findings suggest that trait mindfulness conceptualised as a multi-component construct, but not a uni-component one, is probably an opposing construct to trait mind-wandering. Furthermore, mindfulness and its components, acceptance and non-judging, are associated with a reduction in the more common form of SART errors. However, only the acceptance component made a unique contribution to the variance in TMW and SART performance. Therefore, it is advisable for researchers to specify whether they investigated mindfulness as a uni-component or multi-component construct. Furthermore, it would be beneficial if future research investigates the relationship of mindfulness and its components with mind-wandering further by also incorporating a measure of state mindfulness.

Water and Meadow Views Both Afford Perceived but Not Performance-Based Attention Restoration: Results From Two Experimental Studies

Attention Restoration Theory proposes that exposure to natural environments helps to restore attention. For sustained attention—the ongoing application of focus to a task, the effect appears to be modest, and the underlying mechanisms of attention restoration remain unclear. Exposure to nature may improve attention performance through many means: modulation of alertness and one’s connection to nature were investigated here, in two separate studies. In both studies, participants performed the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) before and immediately after viewing a meadow, ocean, or urban image for 40 s, and then completed the Perceived Restorativeness Scale. In Study 1 (n = 68), an eye-tracker recorded the participants’ tonic pupil diameter during the SARTs, providing a measure of alertness. In Study 2 (n = 186), the effects of connectedness to nature on SART performance and perceived restoration were studied. In both studies, the image viewed was not associated with participants’ sustained attention performance; both nature images were perceived as equally restorative, and more restorative than the urban image. The image viewed was not associated with changes in alertness. Connectedness to nature was not associated with sustained attention performance, but it did moderate the relation between viewing the natural images and perceived restorativeness; participants reporting a higher connection to nature also reported feeling more restored after viewing the nature, but not the urban, images. Dissociation was found between the physiological and behavioral measures and the perceived restorativeness of the images. The results suggest that restoration associated with nature exposure is not associated with modulation of alertness but is associated with connectedness with nature.

Longitudinal Study on Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART): Clustering Approach for Mobility and Cognitive Decline.

The Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) is a computer-based go/no-go task to measure neurocognitive function in older adults. However, simplified average features of this complex dataset lead to loss of primary information and fail to express associations between test performance and clinically meaningful outcomes. Here, we combine a novel method to visualise individual trial (raw) information obtained from the SART test in a large population-based study of ageing in Ireland and an automatic clustering technique. We employed a thresholding method, based on the individual trial number of mistakes, to identify poorer SART performances and a fuzzy clusters algorithm to partition the dataset into 3 subgroups, based on the evolution of SART performance after 4 years. Raw SART data were available for 3468 participants aged 50 years and over at baseline. The previously reported SART visualisation-derived feature ‘bad performance’, indicating the number of SART trials with at least 4 mistakes, and its evolution over time, combined with the fuzzy c-mean (FCM) algorithm, individuated 3 clusters corresponding to 3 degrees of physiological dysregulation. The biggest cluster (94% of the cohort) was constituted by healthy participants, a smaller cluster (5% of the cohort) by participants who showed improvement in cognitive and psychological status, and the smallest cluster (1% of the cohort) by participants whose mobility and cognitive functions dramatically declined after 4 years. We were able to identify in a cohort of relatively high-functioning community-dwelling adults a very small group of participants who showed clinically significant decline. The selected smallest subset manifested not only mobility deterioration, but also cognitive decline, the latter being usually hard to detect in population-based studies. The employed techniques could identify at-risk participants with more specificity than current methods, and help clinicians better identify and manage the small proportion of community-dwelling older adults who are at significant risk of functional decline and loss of independence.

Go-stimuli probability influences response bias in the sustained attention to response task: a signal detection theory perspective.

The sustained attention to response task (SART) is a popular measure in the psychology and neuroscience of attention. The underlying psychological cause for errors, in particular errors of commission, in the SART is actively disputed. Some researchers have suggested task-disengagement due to mind-wandering or mindlessness, and others have proposed strategic choices. In this study we explored an alternative perspective based on Signal Detection Theory, in which the high rate of commission errors in the SART reflects simply a shift in response bias (criterion) due to the high prevalence of Go-stimuli. We randomly assigned 406 participants to one of ten Go-stimuli prevalence rates (50%, 64%, 74%, 78%, 82%, 86%, 90%, 94%, 98% and 100%). As Go-stimuli prevalence increased reaction times to both Go and No-Go stimuli decreased, omission errors decreased and commission errors increased. These all were predicted from a hypothesized bias shift, but the findings were not compatible with some alternative theories of SART performance. These findings may have implications for similar tasks.

SART and Individual Trial Mistake Thresholds: Predictive Model for Mobility Decline.

The Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) has been used to measure neurocognitive functions in older adults. However, simplified average features of this complex dataset may result in loss of primary information and fail to express associations between test performance and clinically meaningful outcomes. Here, we describe a new method to visualise individual trial (raw) information obtained from the SART test, vis-à-vis age, and groups based on mobility status in a large population-based study of ageing in Ireland. A thresholding method, based on the individual trial number of mistakes, was employed to better visualise poorer SART performances, and was statistically validated with binary logistic regression models to predict mobility and cognitive decline after 4 years. Raw SART data were available for 4864 participants aged 50 years and over at baseline. The novel visualisation-derived feature bad performance, indicating the number of SART trials with at least 4 mistakes, was the most significant predictor of mobility decline expressed by the transition from Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) < 12 to TUG ≥ 12 s (OR = 1.29; 95% CI 1.14–1.46; p < 0.001), and the only significant predictor of new falls (OR = 1.11; 95% CI 1.03–1.21; p = 0.011), in models adjusted for multiple covariates. However, no SART-related variables resulted significant for the risk of cognitive decline, expressed by a decrease of ≥2 points in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score. This novel multimodal visualisation could help clinicians easily develop clinical hypotheses. A threshold approach to the evaluation of SART performance in older adults may better identify subjects at higher risk of future mobility decline.

Acute tolerance to alcohol-induced impairment in cognitive performance.

Acute tolerance is a rapid decrease in the effect of alcohol relative to the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) occurring within the duration of a single dose of alcohol. It remains uncertain which cognitive domains are susceptible to acute tolerance, because findings vary between tasks used to measure the effect of alcohol. This study examined acute tolerance in subjective intoxication and in 2 cognitive domains: information processing, measured using the Inspection Time Task (ITT), and response inhibition, measured with the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART). Forty participants were allocated to either an alcohol or placebo group. After baseline measures, the alcohol group were given an active dose to produce a peak BAC of 0.07%, whereas the placebo group received a placebo beverage. ITT and SART performance were measured at a BAC of 0.05% twice during the course of the dose, once when BAC was ascending and again when descending. The placebo group was tested at equivalent times. When BAC was ascending, the alcohol group showed increased ratings of subjective intoxication and impaired performance on the ITT. Consistent with an acute tolerance effect, ratings of subjective intoxication and impairment on the ITT in the alcohol group were lower when BAC was descending. Performance on the SART was not found to be affected by alcohol. The findings suggest information processing is a domain of behavior that shows acute tolerance to alcohol and that the subjective intoxication felt at a BAC of 0.05% can decrease substantially within the duration of a single dose. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Sustained attention and the experience of flow.

The state of flow-often referred to as being "in the zone"-is characterized by the experience of deep, effortless concentration on the activity one is engaged in. While much of the flow literature seems to imply a tight link between flow and attention processes, relatively little work has assessed this question empirically. In the present study, we explored how the experience of flow relates to behavioural performance on the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART). Flow was indexed at the state level using thought-probes and at the trait level via questionnaires. The main finding was that those who experienced more state-level flow during the SART made fewer commission errors during the task, indicating that flow is linked to better sustained attention. Interestingly, the correlation between flow and sustained attention performance was found to increase in the second half of the task. While trait flow was not related to SART performance, it was found to be predictive of state flow during the task, such that those who tended to experience higher levels of flow in their everyday lives also experienced more flow during the experiment.

Longitudinal Trajectories of Sustained Attention Development in Children and Adolescents with ADHD.

The present study characterizes changes in sustained attention ability over ages 9-14, and whether longitudinal trajectories of attention development differ between persistent ADHD, remitted ADHD and control groups. The Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) was administered to 120 children with ADHD and 123 controls on three occasions between ages 9 and 14. Trajectories of sustained attention development, indicated by changes in SART performance (standard deviation of response time [SDRT], omission errors, and ex-Gaussian parameters sigma and tau), were examined using generalized additive mixed models. For all measures there was a significant main effect of age; response time variability and number of omission errors improved linearly as children aged. However, children with ADHD had significantly greater SDRT, tau and omission errors than controls across waves. There were no significant group differences in sigma, indicating that the greater overall response time variability (SDRT) observed in ADHD was likely driven by more intermittent long responses (larger tau). Trajectories of sustained attention performance did not differ between children with persistent ADHD or ADHD in remission. Longitudinal trajectories of sustained attention development are comparable between ADHD and controls, however children with ADHD (regardless of remission status) display a performance deficit equivalent to typical controls 1-3years younger. Findings highlight the need for continued clinical support for children in remission from ADHD and provide support for tau as an endophenotype of ADHD.

Mindfulness Improves Attention Resource Allocation During Response Inhibition in Older Adults

A core process trained during mindfulness is inhibitory control. A decline in inhibitory control is thought to underlie age-related cognitive declines. Electroencephalographic event-related potentials (ERPs) index both the speed and allocation of attentional resources, making them useful in assessing cognition in ageing. While mindfulness has been shown to improve attentional control, studies examining ageing cohorts are lacking. Here, we examine ERP changes during an inhibitory control task in older adults to assess the ability of mindfulness to enhance cognition in ageing. A longitudinal RCT was conducted to examine the effect of an 8-week mindfulness training (MT) intervention on the N2 and P3 ERP components during the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) in healthy older adults aged over 60 years (n = 48). An active control computer-based attention training (CT) program (n = 27) designed to activate similar attentional components to mindfulness was used to determine if outcomes resulted from attention training or mindfulness-specific factors. While both the MT and CT groups displayed improved SART performance following the interventions (as indexed by errors of commission and reaction time coefficient of variation), only the MT group showed significant reductions in frontal P3 latency during response inhibition. The results suggest that mindfulness may enhance the speed and efficiency of attentional processes, thus providing protective benefits against age-related cognitive decline.

Restoring Attentional Resources With Nature: A Replication Study of Berto's (2005) Paradigm Including Commentary From Dr. Rita Berto.

The aim of this study is to replicate Berto's (2005) heavily cited work on attention restoration. Nature interventions have gained increased interest for improving performance of attentionally demanding tasks. Berto (2005) indicated that viewing digital nature images could improve performance on a subsequent response inhibition task, the sustained attention to response task (SART). However, experimental design and statistical concerns about her experiments as well as failure to support her findings across multiple unpublished studies in our laboratory provided rationale for this replication study. Twenty participants were each assigned to one of three digital image conditions: nature, urban, and control. Participants performed the SART before and after digital image exposure. SART performance metrics (total correct target responses, mean response time, and transformed d') were analyzed using 2 (SART) × 3 (image interventions) mixed design ANOVAs. The results failed to replicate Berto (2005). Possible reasons for not replicating Berto (2005) are discussed, including (1) sample differences, (2) different testing environments and procedures, (3) insufficient attentional depletion, and (4) individual differences. Research needs to determine the effectiveness of such interventions, the specific attention tasks that might benefit, and the individual difference variables relevant for attention restoration.

Testing Attention Restoration in a Virtual Reality Driving Simulator.

Objectives: Attention Restoration Theory (ART) suggests that walking or being in natural settings, as opposed to urban environments, benefits cognitive skills because it is less demanding on attentional resources. However, it is unclear whether the same occurs when the person is performing a complex task such as driving, although it is proven that driving through different road environments is associated with different levels of fatigue and may engage attention differently. The present study investigated whether exposure to rural vs. urban road environments while driving would affect attentional capacity in young people after the drive, in line with the classic ART paradigms.Methods: We asked 38 young participants to complete the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) before and after being exposed to a rural or urban road in a virtual reality environment while driving in a full vehicle immersive driving simulator. Changes in SART performance based on environmental exposure where explored in terms of target sensitivity, accuracy, reaction times, and inverse efficiency. We analyzed potential road type effects on driving speed and accuracy. Possible effects of driving on attention were tested by comparing the sample performance to that of a control group of 15 participants who did not drive and sat on the passenger seat instead.Results: Exposure to rural or urban road environments in the driving sample was not associated with any significant changes in attentional performance. The two exposure groups did not differ significantly in terms of driving behavior. Comparisons between the driving sample and the control group controlling for age indicated that participants who drove were more accurate but slower at the SART than those who were passengers.Conclusion: The present study does not support the hypothesis that a short drive in a natural setting may promote attention restoration as compared to an urban setting. Methodological considerations as well as recommendations for future research are discussed.

The influence of thought probes on performance: Does the mind wander more if you ask it?

Mind-wandering has emerged in the past decade as a popular topic in many areas of psychological research. Numerous studies have demonstrated the potential costs and benefits of mind-wandering in relation to ongoing task performance, along with more recent work examining the nature of different types of mind-wandering. A common method of measuring mind-wandering in laboratory research is to embed self-report thought probes at random intervals within an ongoing task. However, a critical issue to determine is whether or not the presence of the thought probes fundamentally alters how an individual typically performs on the task. In the current study, N = 149 participants completed a sustained attention to response task (SART) with and without the presence of mind-wandering thought probes. In addition, participants completed operation and symmetry span measures of working memory capacity, as several studies have examined the relationship between individual differences in working memory capacity and mind-wandering using thought probes on the SART. The results indicate that SART performance does not differ whether thought probes are included or not. Individuals higher in working memory capacity produced better SART performance in the conditions with and without thought probes. In addition, individuals in working memory capacity were negatively correlated with mind-wandering frequency. The results indicate that thought probe measurement is a non-reactive method to measure mind-wandering in attention and inhibition tasks.

You are measuring the decision to be fast, not inattention: the Sustained Attention to Response Task does not measure sustained attention.

The Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) has been widely used in psychological literature as a measure of vigilance (the ability to sustain attention over a prolonged period of time). This task uses a Go/No-Go paradigm and requires the participants to repetitively respond to the stimuli as quickly and as accurately as possible. Previous literature indicates that performance in SART is subjected to a "speed-accuracy trade-off" (SATO) resulting from strategy choices and from the failures of controlling motor reflexes. In this study, 36 participants (n = 36) performed a series of four SARTs. The results support the perspective of strategy choice in SART and suggest that within-subjects SATO in SART should also be acknowledged in attempting to explain SART performance. The implications of the speed-accuracy trade-off should be fully understood when the SARTis being used as a measure or tool.

Linking mind wandering tendency to risky driving in young male drivers

Risky driving is a significant contributor to road traffic crashes, especially in young drivers. Transient mind wandering states, an internal form of distraction, are associated with faster driving, reduced headway distance, slower response times, reduced driver vigilance, and increased crash risk. It is unclear whether a trait tendency to mind wander predicts risky driving, however. Mind wandering is also associated with poor executive control, but whether this capacity moderates the putative link between mind wandering tendency and risky driving is uncertain. The present study tested whether mind wandering tendency predicts risky driving behaviour in young male drivers aged 18–21 (N=30) and whether this relationship is mediated by driver vigilance and moderated by executive control capacity. Mind wandering was measured with the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) and the Daydreaming Frequency Scale (DDFS). Risky driving was assessed by mean speed in a driving simulator and driver vigilance was quantified by horizontal eye movements measured with eye tracking. Results showed that greater mind wandering tendency based on SART performance significantly predicts faster mean speed, confirming the main hypothesis. Neither driver vigilance mediated nor executive control capacity moderated this relationship as hypothesized. These findings speak to the complexity of individual differences in mind wandering. Overall, mind wandering tendency is a significant marker of risky driving in young drivers, which could guide the development of targeted interventions.

Go-stimuli proportion influences response strategy in a sustained attention to response task.

The sustained attention to response task (SART) usefulness as a measure of sustained attention has been questioned. The SART may instead be a better measure of other psychological processes and could prove useful in understanding some real-world behaviours. Thirty participants completed four Go/No-Go response tasks much like the SART, with Go-stimuli proportions of .50, .65, .80 and .95. As Go-stimuli proportion increased, reaction times decreased while both commission errors and self-reported task-related thoughts increased. Performance measures were associated with task-related thoughts but not task-unrelated thoughts. Instead of faster reaction times and increased commission errors being due to absentmindedness or perceptual decoupling from the task, the results suggested participants made use of two competing response strategies, in line with a response strategy or response inhibition perspective of SART performance. Interestingly, performance measures changed in a nonlinear manner, despite the linear Go proportion increase. A threshold may exist where the prepotent motor response becomes more pronounced, leading to the disproportionate increase in response speed and commission errors. This research has implications for researchers looking to employ the SART and for more applied contexts where the consequences of response inhibition failures can be serious.

The Attention-Lapse and Motor Decoupling accounts of SART performance are not mutually exclusive.

There is an ongoing debate about the mechanisms purported to underlie performance in the Sustained-Attention-to-Response Task (SART). Whereas the Attention-Lapse account posits that SART errors result from attentional disengagement, the Motor Decoupling account proposes that SART errors result from failures to inhibit a fast, prepotent motor response, despite adequate attention to the task. That SART performance might be fully accounted for by motor decoupling is problematic for a Attention-Lapse account, and for the use of the SART as an index of attention lapses. To test whether SART performance is in fact fully accounted for by motor decoupling, I examined the relation between SART performance and attention lapses while controlling for motor decoupling. The results were clear: The SART was associated with attention lapses independently of motor decoupling. Thus, the present study suggests that both accounts are correct and that the SART is a valid measure of attention lapses.

Glucose and the wandering mind: not paying attention or simply out of fuel?

The impact of raising glycaemia by ingestion of a glucose drink has revealed cognitive facilitation, particularly for memory and attention. This study aimed to extend current knowledge by examining, for the first time, whether glucose load also moderates task-related (TRT) and task-unrelated thoughts (TUT) during activities that vary in their requirement for sustained attention. A 2 (25 g glucose vs. placebo) × 2 (fast vs. slow version of the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART)) repeated measures, counterbalanced design was used with 16 healthy adults. Self-report questionnaires probed participants' levels of TRT and TUT during SART performance. Prior to testing, the Short Imaginal Processes Inventory (SIPI) was also administered to help pinpoint the nature of thought processes during the task before and after treatment. Analysis of variance revealed no significant effect of treatment; however, we report a pattern of results that is consistent with glucose facilitation effects on task accuracy for more demanding attention tasks (d = 0.56). Additionally, glucose improved the monitoring and task reflection as measured by TRT (d = 0.33) in the more demanding task but no effect on TUT. Probing the nature of thought processes further, we also report two novel correlations (in the placebo) between fears of failure (indexed by the SIPI) and the number of TUT episodes and perceived poor attention control (indexed by the SIPI) and number of TUT and speculate that glucose may act to buffer against TUT episodes under externally demanding situations. These data extend previous research examining the glucose facilitation effect to the processing of internal thought processes.

Effect of orthostatic hypotension on sustained attention in patients with autonomic failure

IntroductionOrthostatic hypotension has been associated with impaired cognitive function, but cognitive function during orthostatic hypotension has hardly been studied. We studied the effect of orthostatic hypotension, induced by head-up tilt...

The effects of warning cues and attention-capturing stimuli on the sustained attention to response task.

Performance on the sustained attention to response task (SART) is often characterized by a speed-accuracy trade-off, and SART performance may be influenced by strategic factors (Head and Helton Conscious Cogn 22: 913-919, 2013). Previous research indicates a significant difference between reliable and unreliable warning cues on response times and errors (commission and omission), suggesting that SART tasks are influenced by strategic factors (Helton et al. Conscious Cogn 20: 1732-1737, 2011; Exp Brain Res 209: 401-407, 2011). With regards to warning stimuli, we chose to use cute images (exhibiting infantile features) during a SART, as previous literature indicates cute images cause participants to engage attention. If viewing cute things makes the viewer exert more attention than normal, then exposure to cute stimuli during the SART should improve performance if SART performance is a measure of perceptual coupling. Reliable warning cues were shown to reduce both response time and errors of commission, and increase errors of omission, relative to unreliable warning cues. Cuteness of the warning stimuli, however, had no significant effect on SART performance. These results suggest the importance of strategic factors in SART performance, not increased attention, and add to the growing literature which suggests the SART is not a good measure of sustained attention, vigilance or perceptual coupling.

The influences of task repetition, napping, time of day, and instruction on the Sustained Attention to Response Task

Introduction: The Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) helps to quantify vigilance impairments. Previous studies, in which five SART sessions on one day were administered, demonstrated worse performance during the first session than during the others. The present study comprises two experiments to identify a cause of this phenomenon. Method: Experiment 1, counting eighty healthy participants, assessed effects of repetition, napping, and time of day on SART performance through a between-groups design. The SART was performed twice in the morning or twice in the afternoon; half of the participants took a 20-minute nap before the second SART. A strong correlation between error count and reaction time (RT) suggested effects of test instruction. Participants gave equal weight to speed and accuracy in Experiment 1; therefore, results of 20 participants were compared to those of 20 additional participants who were told to prefer accuracy (Experiment 2). Results: The average SART error count in Experiment 1 was 10.1; the median RT was 280 ms. Neither repetition nor napping influenced error count or RT. Time of day did not influence error count, but RT was significantly longer for morning than for afternoon SARTs. The additional participants in Experiment 2 had a 49% lower error count and a 14% higher RT than the participants in Experiment 1. Error counts reduced by 50% from the first to the second session of Experiment 2, irrespective of napping or time of day. Conclusions: Preferring accuracy over speed was associated with a significantly lower error count. The data suggest that a worse performance in the first SART session only occurs when instructing participants to prefer accuracy, which is caused by repetition, not by napping or time of day. Note: We advise that participants are instructed to prefer accuracy over speed when performing the SART and that a full practice session is included.