Automated Gaze-Based Mind Wandering Detection during Computerized Learning in Classrooms

We investigate the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) eye-trackers to automatically detect mind wandering—a phenomenon involving a shift in attention from task-related to task-unrelated thoughts—during computerized learning. Study 1 (N = 135 high-school students) tested the feasibility of COTS eye tracking while students learn biology with an intelligent tutoring system called GuruTutor in their classroom. We could successfully track eye gaze in 75% (both eyes tracked) and 95% (one eye tracked) of the cases for 85% of the sessions where gaze was successfully recorded. In Study 2, we used this data to build automated student-independent detectors of mind wandering, obtaining accuracies (mind wandering F1 = 0.59) substantially better than chance (F1 = 0.24). Study 3 investigated context-generalizability of mind wandering detectors, finding that models trained on data collected in a controlled laboratory more successfully generalized to the classroom than the reverse. Study 4 investigated gaze- and video- based mind wandering detection, finding that gaze-based detection was superior and multimodal detection yielded an improvement in limited circumstances. We tested live mind wandering detection on a new sample of 39 students in Study 5 and found that detection accuracy (mind wandering F1 = 0.40) was considerably above chance (F1 = 0.24), albeit lower than offline detection accuracy from Study 1 (F1 = 0.59), a finding attributable to handling of missing data. We discuss our next steps towards developing gaze-based attention-aware learning technologies to increase engagement and learning by combating mind wandering in classroom contexts

iFocus: A Framework for Non-intrusive Assessment of Student Attention Level in Classrooms

The process of learning is not merely determined by what the instructor teaches, but also by how the student receives that information. An attentive student will naturally be more open to obtaining knowledge than a bored or frustrated student. In recent years, tools such as skin temperature measurements and body posture calculations have been developed for the purpose of determining a student\u27s affect, or emotional state of mind. However, measuring eye-gaze data is particularly noteworthy in that it can collect measurements non-intrusively, while also being relatively simple to set up and use. This paper details how data obtained from such an eye-tracker can be used to predict a student\u27s attention as a measure of affect over the course of a class. From this research, an accuracy of 77% was achieved using the Extreme Gradient Boosting technique of machine learning. The outcome indicates that eye-gaze can be indeed used as a basis for constructing a predictive model

Consciousness, Plasticity, and Connectomics: The Role of Intersubjectivity in Human Cognition

Consciousness is typically construed as being explainable purely in terms of either private, raw feels or higher-order, reflective representations. In contrast to this false dichotomy, we propose a new view of consciousness as an interactive, plastic phenomenon open to sociocultural influence. We take up our account of consciousness from the observation of radical cortical neuroplasticity in human development. Accordingly, we draw upon recent research on macroscopic neural networks, including the “default mode,” to illustrate cases in which an individual's particular “connectome” is shaped by encultured social practices that depend upon and influence phenomenal and reflective consciousness. On our account, the dynamically interacting connectivity of these networks bring about important individual differences in conscious experience and determine what is “present” in consciousness. Further, we argue that the organization of the brain into discrete anti-correlated networks supports the phenomenological distinction of prereflective and reflective consciousness, but we emphasize that this finding must be interpreted in light of the dynamic, category-resistant nature of consciousness. Our account motivates philosophical and empirical hypotheses regarding the appropriate time-scale and function of neuroplastic adaptation, the relation of high and low-frequency neural activity to consciousness and cognitive plasticity, and the role of ritual social practices in neural development and cognitive function

Integrating knowledge tracing and item response theory: A tale of two frameworks

Traditionally, the assessment and learning science commu-nities rely on different paradigms to model student performance. The assessment community uses Item Response Theory which allows modeling different student abilities and problem difficulties, while the learning science community uses Knowledge Tracing, which captures skill acquisition. These two paradigms are complementary - IRT cannot be used to model student learning, while Knowledge Tracing assumes all students and problems are the same. Recently, two highly related models based on a principled synthesis of IRT and Knowledge Tracing were introduced. However, these two models were evaluated on different data sets, using different evaluation metrics and with different ways of splitting the data into training and testing sets. In this paper we reconcile the models' results by presenting a unified view of the two models, and by evaluating the models under a common evaluation metric. We find that both models are equivalent and only differ in their training procedure. Our results show that the combined IRT and Knowledge Tracing models offer the best of assessment and learning sciences - high prediction accuracy like the IRT model, and the ability to model student learning like Knowledge Tracing

Investigating the (ir)reducibility and within- and between-subject correlates of intra-individual variability

Intra-individual variability is a prominent characteristic of our behaviour. A large part of this variability is endogenous – arising from fluctuations in our own inner states. In the Introduction, I identify two distinct literatures: 1) the intuitive perspective, which describes variability as a consequence of meta-cognitive fluctuations, and 2) the intrinsic perspective, which describes variability as a necessary feature of our nervous system. In this thesis, I compare these two literatures across four chapters. In Chapter 1, I examined variability in the oculomotor system during rest, and found that variability is repeatable within. In Chapter 2, I found similar intra-individual reliability in variability on a rhythmic manual task, and in the temporal properties of variability. Furthermore, temporal structures correlated positively with variability, but did not correlate with subjective attentional state. In both chapters, variability did not correlate with ADHD, mind wandering, and impulsivity questionnaires. In Chapter 3, I examined the relationships between variability, metacognition, and underlying neural activity. Results showed that participants were more variable on the task prior to off-task compared to on-task reports. Furthermore, neural states underlying attentional state reports showed overlap with those underlying behavioural variability. However, effect sizes were weak – implying that variability and meta-cognition are poor markers of each other. In Chapter 4, I tested a common intuition that people have some access to their fluctuating inner states which they can use to improve their performance. I found evidence against this assumption in both an ecological (darts) and two psychophysical tasks. All in all, while the intuitive framework typically assumes a strong and possibly direct link between meta-cognition and behavioural variability, my current findings indicate that this link is clearly weak

Attention Restraint, Working Memory Capacity, and Mind Wandering: Do Emotional Valence or Intentionality Matter?

Attention restraint appears to mediate the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and mind wandering (Kane et al., 2016). Prior work has identifed two dimensions of mind wandering—emotional valence and intentionality. However, less is known about how WMC and attention restraint correlate with these dimensions. Te current study examined the relationship between WMC, attention restraint, and mind wandering by emotional valence and intentionality. A confrmatory factor analysis demonstrated that WMC and attention restraint were strongly correlated, but only attention restraint was related to overall mind wandering, consistent with prior fndings. However, when examining the emotional valence of mind wandering, attention restraint and WMC were related to negatively and positively valenced, but not neutral, mind wandering. Attention restraint was also related to intentional but not unintentional mind wandering. Tese results suggest that WMC and attention restraint predict some, but not all, types of mind wandering

The effects of mindfulness and meditation on fake news credibility

O fenômeno das fake news tem afetado a política, as figuras públicas e os negócios, e a incapacidade dos consumidores de diferenciar informações falsas de verdadeiras tem um papel na disseminação desse tipo de notícias. Na presente pesquisa, propomos que a meditação de atenção plena pode ser uma ferramenta para que os consumidores treinem sua atenção com o objetivo de melhor detectar se as notícias são falsas. Para testar nossas hipóteses, conduzimos dois estudos, um correlacionar e um experimental - além de um pré-teste. No primeiro estudo, demonstramos que aqueles que praticam meditação regularmente tendem a estar menos suscetíveis a notícias falsas, e também encontramos uma correlação entre mindfulness - atenção plena - enquanto característica pessoal e ceticismo. Em nosso segundo estudo mostramos, através de medidas de eye tracking, que uma indução a meditação de 6 minutos pode afetar a atenção e o esforço dos consumidores enquanto leem fake news.The fake news phenomenon has been affecting politics, public figures and businesses, and consumers’ inability to differentiate true and false information plays a role in spreading this type of news. In the present research, we propose that mindfulness and meditation could be a tool for consumers to train their attention in order to better detect if news are fake. In an attempt to test our hypothesis, we conducted a preliminary test and two studies, one correlational and one experimental. On the first study we demonstrate that those who practice meditation on a regular basis tend to be less susceptible to believe fake news. We also found a correlation between dispositional mindfulness and skepticism. Our second study shows, through eye tracking tools, that a six-minute meditation induction can affect consumers’ attention and effort while reading fake news

Perceptual reality monitoring: Neural mechanisms dissociating imagination from reality

There is increasing evidence that imagination relies on similar neural mechanisms as externally triggered perception. This overlap presents a challenge for perceptual reality monitoring: deciding what is real and what is imagined. Here, we explore how perceptual reality monitoring might be implemented in the brain. We first describe sensory and cognitive factors that could dissociate imagery and perception and conclude that no single factor unambiguously signals whether an experience is internally or externally generated. We suggest that reality monitoring is implemented by higher-level cortical circuits that evaluate first-order sensory and cognitive factors to determine the source of sensory signals. According to this interpretation, perceptual reality monitoring shares core computations with metacognition. This multi-level architecture might explain several types of source confusion as well as dissociations between simply knowing whether something is real and actually experiencing it as real. We discuss avenues for future research to further our understanding of perceptual reality monitoring, an endeavour that has important implications for our understanding of clinical symptoms as well as general cognitive function