Autopilot, Mind Wandering, and the Out of the Loop Performance Problem

Gouraud, Jonas; Delorme, Arnaud; Berberian, Bruno

doi:10.3389/fnins.2017.00541

Cited by 38 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 149 publications

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“…Ultimately, participants could voluntarily redirect their attention and cognitive resources whenever possible toward more personally interesting and useful matters, increasing MW frequency. Task-unrelated MW would act both as a way to cope with boredom ( Cummings et al, 2015 ) and a process to optimize time and resources ( Gouraud et al, 2017a ). Further studies building on agency and task-unrelated MW literatures should investigate this hypothetical link.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…MW may start with some thoughts related to the task (therefore called task-related MW, as when thinking about task performance) or be completely unrelated to the task (called task-unrelated MW, as when thinking about dinner while driving). It is important to note that MW in general is thought to have some evolutionary use, possibly helping to solve problems or lower cognitive fatigue ( Mooneyham and Schooler, 2013 ; Gouraud et al, 2017a ). More particularly, task-related MW could allow future planning ( Schooler et al, 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Out of the Loop, in Your Bubble: Mind Wandering Is Independent From Automation Reliability, but Influences Task Engagement

Gouraud

Delorme

Berberian

2018

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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This study examined the influence of automation reliability on task-unrelated mind wandering (MW) frequency and the impact of MW on task engagement. Automated environment features make it particularly prone to increase MW frequency. Through mechanisms like complacency or agency, automating a task could increase MW frequency for the operator. For safety-critical industries, the lower perception and degraded stimuli processing associated with MW, summarized by the term “decoupling hypothesis,” are particularly concerning. Sixteen participants supervised an autopilot avoiding obstacles with two levels of reliability. Each condition lasted 45 min. We recorded thoughts as either pertaining to being focused, task-related MW or task-unrelated MW. We also recorded perceived mental demand, trust regarding the autopilot and oculometric measures. Based on questionnaire results, our protocol succeeded in inducing more mental demand and lower trust when the automation was unreliable. Attentional states were not correlated, nor did it influence trust in the system reliability. On the contrary, mental demand ratings and pupil diameter were lower during both task-related and task-unrelated MW, compared to those during the focus attentional state. This shows that perceptual decoupling also affects the engagement of operators in automated environments, which may dramatically lower their ability to supervise automation efficiently. This research informs human-automation designers to consider operator engagement when creating automated systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out of the Loop, in Your Bubble: Mind Wandering Is Independent From Automation Reliability, but Influences Task Engagement

Gouraud

Delorme

Berberian

2018

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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“…In these tasks, events often occur in frequent, discrete units, each of which requires some form of active information processing, and where timing typically becomes an important and predictable component of performance; for example, aiming to complete X jobs -experimental trials, scanning items at a supermarket, or laying bricks to build a wall -before time Y -end of experimental session, or shift at work. During such repetitive tasks, it is common for people to start responding in a habitual manner with minimal or no active information processing or awareness of the current task requirements; colloquially, we refer to this phenomenon as 'going on autopilot' (for review, see Gouraud, Delorme, & Berberian, 2017). In this sense, we propose that frequently occurring events in the environment, such as the onset of a stimulus in an experimental task, start to unconditionally trigger a response, such as pressing a button; this is a form of instrumental learning.…”

Section: Racing Contaminants: the Rhythmic Race Model (Rrm)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling distracted performance

Hawkins

Mittner

Forstmann

et al. 2019

Cognitive Psychology

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The sustained attention to response task (SART) has been the primary method of studying the phenomenon of mind wandering. We develop and experimentally test the first integrated cognitive process model that quantitatively explains all stationary features of behavioral performance in the SART. The model assumes that performance is generated by a competitive race between a stimulus-related decision process and a stimulus-unrelated rhythmic response process. We propose that the stimulus-unrelated process entrains to timing regularities in the task environment, and is unconditionally triggered as a habit or 'insurance policy' to protect against the deleterious effects of mind wandering on ongoing task performance. For two SART experiments the model provided a quantitatively precise account of a range of previously reported trends in choice, response time and self-reported mind wandering data. It also accounted for three previously unidentified features of response time distributions that place critical constraints on cognitive models of performance in situations when people might engage in task-unrelated thoughts. Furthermore, the parameters of the rhythmic race model were meaningfully associated with participants' self-reported distraction, even though the model was never informed by these data. In a validation test, we disrupted the latent rhythmic component with a manipulation of inter-trial-interval variability, and showed that the architecture of the model provided insight into its counter-intuitive effect. We conclude that performance in the presence of mind wandering can be conceived as a competitive latent decision vs. rhythmic response process. We discuss how the rhythmic race model is not restricted to the study of distraction or mind wandering; it is applicable to any domain requiring repetitive responding where evidence accumulation is assumed to be an underlying principle of behavior.

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“…Prolonged periods of high alpha power, have also been found to be associated with lapses of attention to external stimuli (O'Connell et al, 2009). In addition, alpha power is expected to be increased during periods of mind wandering and activation of the default-mode network (DMN), relative to on task behaviour (Gouraud, Delorme, & Berberian, 2017;Hinterberger, Schmidt, Kamei, & Walach, 2014). Further, our results suggest that a single-session of FAM practice maybe able to induce relatively less distracted cognitive states and reduce mind-wandering during practice.…”

Section: Manipulation Check: Cognitive Task Related Spectral Power Inmentioning

confidence: 58%

Single-session and training effects of focused-attention meditation on neurophysiological and behavioural correlates of cognitive control during motor sequence learning

Chan¹,

Alday²,

Zou³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Recent theoretical models outline that motor sequence learning involves cognitive control processes that affects stimulus- or plan-based control, although clear contributions from the have not been delineated. Previously, we found that single-session focused attention meditation (FAM) enhanced stimulus-based control through increased top-down activation. In the present experiment, we aimed to understand if single-session FAM effects could be enhanced with short-term FAM training in behavioural reaction time, and neurophysiological indices in the form event-related potentials (ERP). We investigated the N200 component that is closely related to top-down activation, and the error-related negatively (ERN) component that is closely related to error processing for plan development. 29 participants were randomised to one of three conditions reflecting the level of FAM experienced prior to a serial reaction time task (SRTT): 21 sessions of FAM (FAM21, N= 12), a single FAM session (FAM1, N= 9) or no preceding FAM control (Control, N= 8). Continuous 64-channel EEG were recorded during SRTT whereby N200 amplitudes for correct trials, and ERN using mean difference in amplitudes for correct and error trials, were extracted. Component amplitudes, topography and behavioural outcomes were compared using linear mixed effects regression models between groups. Firstly, FAM21 exhibited faster reaction time performances in majority of the learning blocks compared to FAM1 and Control. FAM21 also demonstrated a significantly more pronounced N200 component over all anterior and the central regions during SRTT compared to FAM1 and Control. When N200 amplitudes were modelled against general learning performance, FAM21 also showed the greatest rate of decline over all anterior and the central regions during SRTT compared to FAM1 and Control. No robust differences in the ERN component were found that supported our predictions. The N200 is associated with top-down cognitive control processes, and hence may index stimulus-based learning effects; whilst the ERN is associated with error and updating of an internalised plan that may index plan-based learning effects. Firstly, our results show that after FAM training, top-down activation is increased for better block-on-block RT performances compared to the other groups. More importantly, FAM training facilitates more efficient and dynamic modulation of top-down activation such that at high levels of general learning performance, less top-down control is needed to maintain the performance.

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Autopilot, Mind Wandering, and the Out of the Loop Performance Problem

Cited by 38 publications

References 149 publications

Out of the Loop, in Your Bubble: Mind Wandering Is Independent From Automation Reliability, but Influences Task Engagement

Out of the Loop, in Your Bubble: Mind Wandering Is Independent From Automation Reliability, but Influences Task Engagement

Modeling distracted performance

Single-session and training effects of focused-attention meditation on neurophysiological and behavioural correlates of cognitive control during motor sequence learning

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