Examining the effects of a modified SART when measuring mind-wandering

Abstract

Objective: Mind-wandering (MW) is defined as a shift of attention from external tasks toward internal thoughts and is popularly measured by the sustained attention to response task (SART). SART is able to capture MW, but cannot track the dynamics of mind-wandering over time well. We thus attempted to modify the sustained attention to response task paradigm (mSART) to capture the participant's mind-wandering state over time and quantify the degree of mind-wandering using the current behavioral data. Methods: 179 participants from Wenzhou Medical University were recruited to participate in this experiment. The main changes to the experiment included (1) manipulating different no-go stimuli frequencies to control the difficulty of the task and setting 9 modes; (2) extending the experiment time to 30 min; (3) allowing participants to correct errors by pressing the b key. Error rate, Mean RTs, RT CV, and d' were used to reflect MW. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed. Results: ANOVA was used to explore Mean RTs, RT CV and d’ for participants with different levels of mind-wandering and significant differences were found (Mean RTs:Welch's F (2, 8606.04) = 579.00, p