网络游戏成瘾者注意焦点转换功能的特异性损伤研究

网络游戏成瘾对人类认知功能的损伤日益成为研究焦点之一。采用注意焦点转换任务,分别要求网络游戏成瘾被试与正常被试在工作记忆的语音环内、视空画板内及语音环——视空画板间进行注意焦点转换,然后比较两组被试在各转换任务中转换代价的差异,来探讨网络游戏成瘾者的注意焦点转换功能是否受损以及受损的特征。结果发现网络游戏成瘾组被试在视空画板内进行注意焦点转换时比对照组被试表现出更大的转换代价,而在其他两种转换任务中则没有发现组间差异。此结果表明网络游戏成瘾者的注意转换功能受到特异性损伤。     

大学生智能手机成瘾与抑制控制能力的关系:手机位置和认知负荷的调节作用

本研究以66名大学生为被试,采用Flanker效应和工作记忆的双任务设计来探讨手机位置、认知负荷在智能手机成瘾与抑制控制能力之间的调节作用。结果发现：（1）在低认知负荷下,无论是否智能手机成瘾,手机存在视线之外比手机在视线之内时抑制控制能力更差;（2）在高认知负荷下,智能手机成瘾与手机位置交互作用显著：当手机在视线之内时,智能手机成瘾者的抑制控制能力显著差于非成瘾者;而当手机在视线之外时,两者没有显著差异。结果表明,智能手机成瘾大学生的抑制控制能力不仅会受到手机位置的影响,还会受到任务本身所带来的认知负荷的调节。     

大学生智能手机成瘾与抑制控制能力的关系:手机位置和认知负荷的调节作用

本研究以66名大学生为被试,采用Flanker效应和工作记忆的双任务设计来探讨手机位置、认知负荷在智能手机成瘾与抑制控制能力之间的调节作用。结果发现：（1）在低认知负荷下,无论是否智能手机成瘾,手机存在视线之外比手机在视线之内时抑制控制能力更差;（2）在高认知负荷下,智能手机成瘾与手机位置交互作用显著：当手机在视线之内时,智能手机成瘾者的抑制控制能力显著差于非成瘾者;而当手机在视线之外时,两者没有显著差异。结果表明,智能手机成瘾大学生的抑制控制能力不仅会受到手机位置的影响,还会受到任务本身所带来的认知负荷的调节。     

手机成瘾者抑制控制能力特点：来自反向眼跳任务的证据

为深入研究手机成瘾者的抑制控制能力特点,使用手机成瘾倾向量表筛选34名被试,手机成瘾组与非手机成瘾组各17名被试完成反向眼跳范式测量。结果发现：(1)手机成瘾组反向眼跳错误率显著高于非手机成瘾组。(2)手机成瘾组朝向眼跳潜伏期显著短于非手机成瘾组。结果表明,手机成瘾组抑制控制能力显著低于非手机成瘾组,反向眼跳任务成绩较差。这表明手机成瘾者较容易受自下而上的刺激驱动,较难抑制无关刺激产生的注意干扰。     

心智游移、工作记忆对初中生阅读理解的影响

心智游移（mind wandering,MW）是一种特殊的注意分散状态,是个体内部自发的一种非自主内源性意识体验。选取101名初一学生被试,采用心智游移频率问卷和SART测验研究初中生的心智游移特质和状态,并分别考察两种角度中的心智游移、工作记忆对初中生阅读理解的影响,结果表明：（1）初中生的心智游移相对较低;（2）心智游移影响初中生的散文阅读;（3）工作记忆影响初中生的散文阅读,且心智游移在其中起调节作用。     

网络成瘾者的行为冲动性——来自爱荷华赌博任务的证据

以84名大学生为被试(网络成瘾和对照组被试各42名),采用感觉寻求量表和爱荷华赌博任务(Iowa Gambling Task)范式比较两组被试在感觉寻求水平和决策行为反应模式方面的差异.结果发现,与对照组被试相比,网络成瘾者的感觉寻求总分和去抑制、厌恶单调及寻求激动和惊险三个分量表得分显著增加,在IGT任务中优先选择收益和惩罚频率高的不利扑克牌,其冒险的决策策略并没有随着决策次数的增加而改变.这表明网络成瘾者的决策功能受损并表现出“即时收益优先”的决策模式和对强化物潜在风险的高耐受性.     

心智游移的研究：理论、方法及进展

心智游移普遍存在于个体的意识体验中,主要指自发产生的、与当前外界环境无关的思维加工。目前,有关心智游移的理论在其与执行控制的关系上存在争议,主要有心智游移的执行控制理论、控制失败假说和全局可用性假说等。当前的研究主要基于口头报告,并辅以问卷和量表,一些客观指标和认知神经科学的方法也正尝试着对它进行探究。采用这些方法,心智游移的研究已取得了很大的进展。在行为水平上,相关研究探讨了它的时间属性、与元意识的关系、不同因素对它的作用以及它对认知加工的影响等;在认知神经水平上,默认网络与心智游移的关系备受关注,对心智游移时脑电成分的研究也有助于对其机制的了解。未来的研究在心智游移的产生机制、功能和研究方法上可以有进一步的发展。     

网络游戏成瘾者认知功能损害的ERP研究

许多研究证明,网络成瘾具有和物质依赖成瘾相同的成瘾症状:不仅有明显的社会功能损害,而且表现出抑郁、强迫、焦虑等精神症状.本研究采用事件相关电位技术,以网络游戏成瘾大学生为被试,探索了网络游戏成瘾者脑认知功能的变化.结果发现:①成瘾者听觉P300的波幅显著低于非成瘾者,说明网络成瘾者可能存在认知功能的损害;②成瘾者听觉N1的波幅显著高于非成瘾者,提示成瘾者可能存在感觉功能的易化,或者受到感觉寻求人格特质的影响.     

项目竞争强度对网络成瘾大学生提取诱发遗忘的影响

执行功能缺陷是网络成瘾发生、维持和复发的原因之一,以往研究侧重于探讨网络成瘾者注意控制、反应抑制等执行功能成分的损伤状况,而其记忆抑制状况尚不清楚。本研究通过考察网络成瘾大学生的提取诱发遗忘（RIF）来探讨其记忆抑制的特点及RIF的产生机制。结果发现：低网络成瘾个体在高项目竞争强度下表现出显著的RIF,在低项目竞争强度下未产生;高网络成瘾个体在低项目竞争强度下表现出显著的RIF,在高项目竞争强度下未产生。结果表明网络成瘾大学生的记忆抑制能力受损严重,其在低项目竞争强度下易受相关代价与效益问题（CCB）影响而产生干扰性RIF。     

海洛因戒治者执行控制功能异常的电生理证据

执行控制障碍是成瘾的核心特征之一,对成瘾者的复发与康复治疗有重要影响。采用事件相关电位(ERP)技术分析海洛因戒治者和健康成年人在经典色-词Stroop任务中执行控制的大脑皮层时程动态变化。行为结果发现,两组被试的反应时均有显著的Stroop干扰效应,但无显著组间差异。ERP结果显示,戒治组不一致条件的平均波幅显著小于对照组;戒治组Stroop任务相关的N2效应和SP消失及N450效应衰减。研究结果表明,海洛因戒治者可能存在早期冲突监控加工障碍和晚期反应冲突解决加工异常。     

Tracking the train of thought from the laboratory into everyday life: An experience-sampling study of mind wandering across controlled and ecological contexts

In an experience-sampling study that bridged laboratory, ecological, and individual-differences approaches to mind-wandering research, 72 subjects completed an executive-control task with periodic thought probes (reported by McVay & Kane, 2009) and then carried PDAs for a week that signaled them eight times daily to report immediately whether their thoughts were off task. Subjects who reported more mind wandering during the laboratory task endorsed more mind-wandering experiences during everyday life (and were more likely to report worries as off-task thought content). We also conceptually replicated laboratory findings that mind wandering predicts task performance: Subjects rated their daily-life performance to be impaired when they reported off-task thoughts, with greatest impairment when subjects’ mind wandering lacked metaconsciousness. The propensity to mind wander appears to be a stable cognitive characteristic and seems to predict performance difficulties in daily life, just as it does in the laboratory     

Anatomy of an error: A bidirectional state model of task engagement/disengagement and attention-related errors

We present arguments and evidence for a three-state attentional model of task engagement/disengagement. The model postulates three states of mind-wandering: occurrent task inattention, generic task inattention, and response disengagement. We hypothesize that all three states are both causes and consequences of task performance outcomes and apply across a variety of experimental and real-world tasks. We apply this model to the analysis of a widely used GO/NOGO task, the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART). We identify three performance characteristics of the SART that map onto the three states of the model: RT variability, anticipations, and omissions. Predictions based on the model are tested, and largely corroborated, via regression and lag-sequential analyses of both successful and unsuccessful withholding on NOGO trials as well as self-reported mind-wandering and everyday cognitive errors. The results revealed theoretically consistent temporal associations among the state indicators and between these and SART errors as well as with self-report measures. Lag analysis was consistent with the hypotheses that temporal transitions among states are often extremely abrupt and that the association between mind-wandering and performance is bidirectional. The bidirectional effects suggest that errors constitute important occasions for reactive mind-wandering. The model also enables concrete phenomenological, behavioral, and physiological predictions for future research.     

Differential recruitment of executive resources during mind wandering

Recent research has shown that mind wandering recruits executive resources away from the external task towards inner thoughts. No studies however have determined whether executive functions are drawn away in a unitary manner during mind wandering episodes, or whether there is variation in specific functions impacted. Accordingly, we examined whether mind wandering differentially modulates three core executive functions—response inhibition, updating of working memory, and mental set shifting. In three experiments, participants performed one of these three executive function tasks and reported their attentional state as either on-task or mind wandering at random intervals. We found that mind wandering led to poorer performance in the response inhibition and working memory tasks, but not the set-shifting task. These findings suggest that mind wandering does not recruit executive functions in a monolithic manner. Rather, it appears to selectively engage certain executive functions, which may reflect the adaptive maintenance of ongoing task performance.     

I don’t feel your pain (as much): The desensitizing effect of mind wandering on the perception of others’ discomfort

Mind wandering reduces both the sensory and cognitive processing of affectively neutral stimuli, but whether it also modulates the processing of affectively salient stimuli remains unclear. In particular, we examined whether mind wandering attenuates one’s sensitivity to observing mild pain in others. In the first experiment, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) as participants viewed images of hands in either painful or neutral situations, while being prompted at random intervals to report whether their thoughts were on task or mind wandering. We found that the brain’s later response to painful images was significantly reduced immediately preceding “mind-wandering” versus “on-task” reports, as measured via amplitude decreases in a frontal–central positivity beginning approximately 300 ms poststimulus. In a second, control experiment using behavioral measures, we wanted to confirm whether the subjective sense of pain observed in others does in fact decrease during mind wandering. Accordingly, we asked participants to rate how painful the hand images looked on a 5-point Likert scale, again while taking reports of their mind-wandering states at unpredictable intervals. Consistent with our ERP data, we found that the ratings for painful images were significantly reduced immediately preceding mind-wandering reports. Additional control analyses suggested that the effect could not simply be ascribed to general habituation in the affective response to painful images over time. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that mind wandering can directly modulate the cortical processing of affectively salient stimulus inputs, serving in this case to reduce sensitivity to the physical discomfort of others.     

The lights are on but no one’s home: Meta-awareness and the decoupling of attention when the mind wanders

In a recent review, we suggested that an important aspect of mind-wandering is whether participants are aware that they are off task (Smallwood & Schooler, 2006). We tested this hypothesis by examining the informationprocessing correlates of mind wandering with and without awareness in a task requiring participants to encode words and detect targets with either a high or a low probability. Target detection was measured via response inhibition. Mind wandering in the absence of awareness was associated with a failure to supervise task performance, as indicated by short RTs, and was predictive of failures in response inhibition. Under conditions of low target probability, mind wandering was associated with a relative absence of the influence of recollection at retrieval. The results are consistent with the notion that mind wandering involves a state of decoupled attention and emphasizes the importance of meta-awareness of off-task episodes in determining the consequences of these mental states.     

Tracking arousal state and mind wandering with pupillometry

In four experiments, the association between arousal state and different mind-wandering states was examined. Participants performed a sustained attention task while pupil responses were continuously recorded. Periodically during the task, participants were presented with thought probes to determine if they were on task or mind wandering. Across the four experiments, the results suggested that in situations that promoted on-task behaviors and focused external attention, mind wandering was associated with lowered arousal, as seen by smaller tonic pupil diameters and smaller phasic pupillary responses. However, in situations that promoted a more internal focus of attention, there were no differences between on-task states and mind wandering in tonic pupil diameter (although differences emerged for phasic pupillary responses), suggesting similar arousal levels. Furthermore, across the four experiments, mind blanking and mind wandering dissociated in terms of whether the situation promoted focused external attention or focused internal attention. These results are broadly consistent with the notion that mind wandering is a heterogeneous construct, with different forms of mind wandering being associated with different arousal states, and suggest that a combination of behavioral and pupillary measures can be used to track these various states.     

Lost in the Sauce: The Effects of Alcohol on Mind Wandering

ABSTRACT— Alcohol consumption alters consciousness in ways that make drinking both alluring and hazardous. Recent advances in the study of consciousness using a mind-wandering paradigm permit a rigorous examination of the effects of alcohol on experiential consciousness and metaconsciousness. Fifty-four male social drinkers consumed alcohol (0.82 g/kg) or a placebo beverage and then performed a mind-wandering reading task. This task indexed both self-caught and probe-caught zone-outs to distinguish between mind wandering inside and outside of awareness. Compared with participants who drank the placebo, those who drank alcohol were significantly more likely to report that they were zoning out when probed. After this increase in mind wandering was accounted for, alcohol also lowered the probability of catching oneself zoning out. The results suggest that alcohol increases mind wandering while simultaneously reducing the likelihood of noticing one's mind wandering. Findings are discussed with regard to theories of alcohol and theories of consciousness.     

Mind wandering in schizophrenia: A thought-sampling study

Mind wandering has consistently been associated with impairments in cognition, emotion and daily performance. However, few experimental studies on mind wandering have been conducted in individuals with schizophrenia. The present study aimed to examine mind wandering in schizophrenia patients with a thought-sampling experiment embedded in a rapid go/no-go task and the relationship between the frequency of mind wandering and psychotic symptoms. Fifty-eight schizophrenia patients and 56 matched healthy controls were recruited and engaged in a task that assessed mind wandering. The results showed that schizophrenia patients (1.4%) reported less frequent mind wandering than healthy controls (5.8%). Moreover, there was no significant correlation between the frequency of mind wandering and psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia patients. Further studies in different stages of schizophrenia and in patients with more severe psychotic symptoms are needed to demonstrate a more comprehensive picture of mind wandering in schizophrenia.     

The restless mind

This article reviews the hypothesis that mind wandering can be integrated into executive models of attention. Evidence suggests that mind wandering shares many similarities with traditional notions of executive control. When mind wandering occurs, the executive components of attention appear to shift away from the primary task, leading to failures in task performance and superficial representations of the external environment. One challenge for incorporating mind wandering into standard executive models is that it often occurs in the absence of explicit intention--a hallmark of controlled processing. However, mind wandering, like other goal-related processes, can be engaged without explicit awareness; thus, mind wandering can be seen as a goal-driven process, albeit one that is not directed toward the primary task.     

Drifting from slow to "D'oh!": working memory capacity and mind wandering predict extreme reaction times and executive control errors

A combined experimental, individual-differences, and thought-sampling study tested the predictions of executive attention (e.g., Engle & Kane, 2004) and coordinative binding (e.g., Oberauer, Süβ, Wilhelm, & Sander, 2007) theories of working memory capacity (WMC). We assessed 288 subjects' WMC and their performance and mind-wandering rates during a sustained-attention task; subjects completed either a go/no-go version requiring executive control over habit or a vigilance version that did not. We further combined the data with those from McVay and Kane (2009) to (1) gauge the contributions of WMC and attentional lapses to the worst performance rule and the tail, or τ parameter, of reaction time (RT) distributions; (2) assess which parameters from a quantitative evidence-accumulation RT model were predicted by WMC and mind-wandering reports; and (3) consider intrasubject RT patterns--particularly, speeding--as potential objective markers of mind wandering. We found that WMC predicted action and thought control in only some conditions, that attentional lapses (indicated by task-unrelated-thought reports and drift-rate variability in evidence accumulation) contributed to τ, performance accuracy, and WMC's association with them and that mind-wandering experiences were not predicted by trial-to-trial RT changes, and so they cannot always be inferred from objective performance measures.