EEG Data Quality in Real‐World Settings: Examining Neural Correlates of Attention in School‐Aged Children

Abstract

Advances in mobile electroencephalography (EEG) technology have made it possible to examine covert cognitive processes in real‐world settings such as student attention in the classroom. Here, we outline research using wired and wireless EEG technology to examine attention in elementary school children across increasingly naturalistic paradigms in schools, ranging from a lab‐based paradigm where children met one‐on‐one with an experimenter in a field laboratory to mobile EEG testing conducted in the same school during semi‐naturalistic classroom lessons. Despite an increase of data loss with the classroom‐based paradigm, we demonstrate that it is feasible to collect quality data in classroom settings with young children. We also provide a test case for how robust EEG signals, such as alpha oscillations, can be used to identify measurable differences in covert processes like attention in classrooms. We end with pragmatic suggestions for researchers interested in employing naturalistic EEG methods in real‐world, multisensory contexts.

Portable EEG for assessing attention in educational settings: A scoping review

“…Five studies verified the signal quality of EEG derived from portable EEG in attentional tasks (Figure 2a). Xu et al (2022) reported that alpha activity recorded by portable EEG was comparable to that recorded by a lab-based EEG system. Similarly, Khng & Mane (2020) demonstrated that portable EEG can detect similar effects in the Flanker task as a laboratorybased EEG system.…”

“…The first challenge is ensuring the quality of EEG data, as the EEG recordings can involve a substantial number of artifacts caused by natural interactions in real-world learning, such as eye movements, blinks, nodding, gestures, facial expressions, and discussions. To compensate for the artifacts, longer recording time, more trials, and sufficient scalp coverage are recommended (Janssen et al, 2021;Xu et al, 2022). The second challenge is causality inference.…”

“…The signal quality of portable EEG has been verified in short recording durations, but there is little evidence regarding long-term signal quality. While portable EEG devices have been validated in different tasks (Chabin et al, 2020;Kam et al, 2019;Khng & Mane, 2020), sites (Edwards & Trujillo, 2021;Ladouce et al, 2019), andpopulations (McWilliams et al, 2021;Xu et al, 2022) within a short recording duration (e.g. in 10 minutes), few studies investigated the long-term stability of portable EEG devices.…”

“…The majority of studies utilizing single-channel frontal EEG recordings primarily reflect executive attention. Despite some studies employing multi-channel EEG devices, the attentional network under examination was limited to a single domain, such as the orienting network (Grammer et al, 2021;Xu et al, 2022), or the alerting network (Dikker et al, 2020)).…”

Informing the Development of School‐Based Strategies to Promote Children's Executive Function Skills: Considerations, Challenges, and Future Directions

“…Missing from the work outlined above is a focus on factors that might contribute to student's use of EF in the moment. To examine the impact of classroom experiences on student EF, we have been developing methods for examining associated cognitive processes in students in the classroom using EEG, demonstrating that it is possible to measure—in real‐time—the neural correlates of attention while students are learning in the college and elementary classroom (Grammer, Xu, & Lenartowicz, 2021; Xu, Torgrimson, Torres, Lenartowicz, & Grammer, 2022). By integrating neuroscientific methods to examine attention and distraction in students while they are engaged in learning activities (e.g., independent silent reading, group work, teacher‐led instruction), it is possible to examine the moment‐to‐moment fluctuations in these processes while students are surrounded by teachers and peers.…”