Performance and Eye Metrics Correlates to Out-of-the-zone Sustained Attention in GradCPT

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to replicate previous behavioral performance results and investigate eye met- rics correlates in the Gradual Onset Continuous Performance Task (gradCPT). Previous research has shown that gradCPT can provide a measurement of fluctuations in sustained attention over time. In this study, 30 participants each completed three eight-minute sessions of gradCPT. “In the zone” and “out of the zone” periods were identified according to the Variance Time Course measure. Patterns of reaction time, d’, and error rates were consistent with previous studies, while criterion scores differed between the two-zone peri- ods. Eye-tracking data indicated that mean and variation of pupil size, saccade duration, saccade peak veloc- ity, and fixation duration were sensitive to the in-the-zone vs. the out-of-the-zone periods. These results sug- gest that some individuals may change their task strategy during out-of-the-zone periods. Eye metrics might be useful indicators for out-of-the-zone performance when behavioral performance metrics were not availa- ble.

Attentional fluctuations and the temporal organization of memory

“…Thus, our choice of the VTC analysis over this alternative approach does not change the pattern of results. Nevertheless, other measures of attentional fluctuations, such as pupil diameter changes linked to physiological arousal (Brink et al, 2016;Unsworth et al, 2018;Clewett et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020), could be used in future studies to link attentional fluctuations to the temporal organization of recall.…”

Attentional fluctuations and the temporal organization of memory

“…Thus, our choice of the VTC analysis over this alternative approach does not change our main conclusions. Nevertheless, other measures of attentional fluctuations, such as pupil diameter changes linked to physiological arousal (Brink et al, 2016;Unsworth et al, 2018;Clewett et al, 2020;Decker et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020), could be used in future studies to link attentional fluctuations to the temporal organization of recall.…”

“…This approach would allow researchers to determine if most "in the zone" states are early on in the experimental session rather than later, and whether that is related to more temporal organization for lists encoded early vs. late in the experiment. Alternatively, researchers could use pupil measures of attentional states (Kang et al, 2014;Brink et al, 2016;Unsworth & Robison, 2016;Unsworth et al, 2018;Clewett et al, 2020;Decker et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020) to measure fluctuations in attention across an experimental session, and determine if that is related to reduced temporal clustering in later lists vs. earlier lists.…”