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

The diversity of mind wandering : The role of individual differences and cognitive factors

Many individuals spend a substantial portion of their waking time thinking about topics unrelated to current activities and surroundings (mind wandering). This dissertation sought to contribute to our knowledge of why some people mind wander more than others. Mind wandering in cognitive tasks is more common in individuals with poor executive cognitive control (working memory updating, inhibiting task-inappropriate response, shifting between tasks), but these studies have paid little attention to the variety of contents of mind wandering and individual differences moderators. Individuals vary in how much they find their mind wandering enjoyable or helpful (a positive mind wandering style) or dysphoric and anguished (a negative style). Paper I tested whether positive or negative styles of mind wandering moderated the relation between executive control and mind wandering, which could help reconcile two cognitive hypotheses of mind wandering. The control-failure hypothesis suggests that mind wandering occurs because of disruptions in executive control, whereas the global availability hypothesis suggests that the availability of executive resources fosters mind wandering. The results indicated that the relation between working memory capacity and mind wandering depended on a negative mind wandering style: Those individuals with a high-negative mind wandering style exhibited a negative relation between working memory and mind wandering (consistent with the control-failure hypothesis), whereas the relation was positive in those with a low-negative style (consistent with the global availability hypothesis). Paper II evaluated affect and cognitive variables by relating mind wandering during a signal detection task to individual differences in negative affectivity (neuroticism) and self-regulatory abilities. Mind wandering was associated with neuroticism and low effortful control, but not with shifting ability. Regression analyses indicated that effortful control predicted lower neutral mind wandering whereas neuroticism predicted negative mind wandering. The subsequent two papers extended this research by examining mind wandering, affect, and control in selected populations. A trait relevant to attentional control and negative affect is dissociation, which includes amnesia and experiential disconnectedness from self/others (detachment). Paper III evaluated everyday mentation in people scoring high or low in dissociation and in hypnotic suggestibility (hypnotizability). Mind wandering episodes were characterized by a reduced sense of control/awareness of mentations, especially in those scoring high on both hypnotizability and dissociation. Paper IV applied attachment theory to study everyday mentations in adults with childhood exposures to traumatizing events. A negative mind wandering style and everyday experiences of dissociation, negative affect, and low control/awareness were associated with a self-report, but not a discourse, measure of unresolved/disorganized attachment. The latter construct did not predict overall amount of mind wandering. The results of this dissertation help integrate cognitive hypotheses of mind wandering within broader cognitive, affective, and developmental frameworks. I suggest that mind wandering consists of different subtypes that operate through different cognitive processes in which one is characterized by neutral or negative affect, poor working memory monitoring, and low effortful control, and appears more often in high dissociative/ high hypnotizable individuals, whereas another subtype is characterized by positive affect but is less clear in its relation to executive functioning

Contemplating Mindfulness at Work: An Integrative Review

Mindfulness research activity is surging within organizational science. Emerging evidence across multiple fields suggests that mindfulness is fundamentally connected to many aspects of workplace functioning, but this knowledge base has not been systematically integrated to date. This review coalesces the burgeoning body of mindfulness scholarship into a framework to guide mainstream management research investigating a broad range of constructs. The framework identifies how mindfulness influences attention, with downstream effects on functional domains of cognition, emotion, behavior, and physiology. Ultimately, these domains impact key workplace outcomes, including performance, relationships, and well-being. Consideration of the evidence on mindfulness at work stimulates important questions and challenges key assumptions within management science, generating an agenda for future research

Mind Wandering in Daily Life: A National Experience Sampling Study of Intentional and Unintentional Mind Wandering Episodes Reported by Working Adults Ages 25 – 50

Numerous researchers have investigated thinking that drifts away from what the individual was doing, thinking that is known as mind wandering. Their inquiries were often conducted in university lab settings with student participants. To learn about mind wandering in the daily life of working adults, this experience sampling study investigated intentional and unintentional mind wandering episodes as reported by working adults, ages 25–50, living across the United States. In this age frame, work and family responsibilities have increased in complexity and overlap. Using a smartphone app, participants were randomly notified to answer experience sampling surveys six times a day for up to five days. Eight questions concerned frequency, intentionality, and the descriptive characteristics of thought type, thought content, temporality, context, context demand, and emotion. Based upon 7,947 notification responses and 4,294 reported mind wandering episodes, the research findings showed that mind wandering is a common thinking experience in working adult daily life and is differentiated by intentionality, parent status, and gender. Parents reported more frequent mind wandering and intentional mind wandering episodes than nonparents. Episode thought type was most often indicated as practical thought. Episodes were more often reported as having the content related to context although out of context mind wandering episodes were also highly reported. Context demand and emotion at the time of the notification were related to mind wandering episode frequency and were further differentiated by intentionality, parent status, and gender. Working parents reported mind wandering episodes during higher demand, particularly male parents, than nonparents. By generating new knowledge about the thinking life of working adults, this study’s results and methodology contribute to the fields of leadership and change, thought research, intrapersonal and interpersonal psychology, work and family studies, and education. Future studies focused on underlying factors related to the mind wandering of working adults and the differences between parent and nonparent mind wandering may inform our understanding of working adult mind wandering. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/, and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

Physiological Indicators of Task Demand, Fatigue, and Cognition in Future Digital Manufacturing Environments

As Digital Manufacturing transforms traditionally physical work into more system-monitoring tasks, new methods are required for understanding people's mental workload and prolonged capacity for focused attention. Many physiological measures have shown promise for detecting changes in cognitive state, and recent advances in sensor technology offer minimally-invasive ways to monitor our cognitive activity. Previous research in functional near-infrared spectroscopy, for example, has observed changes in cerebral hemodynamic response during periods of high demand within tasks. This work investigated the relationships among task demand, fatigue, and attention degradation in a sustained attention task, and their effect on heart rate, breathing rate, nose temperature and hemodynamic response in the prefrontal cortex and middle temporal gyrus. Analysis revealed a small but significant effect of fatigue on heart rate relative to baseline, breathing rate and hemodynamic response. Task demand had a small but significant effect on breathing rate and nose temperature, both relative to baseline, but no difference between levels of demand was observed in heart rate or hemodynamic response. Our results provide insight into what physiological data can tell us about cognitive state, ability to focus, and the impact of fatigue over time

Wandering eyes: Eye movements during mind wandering in video lectures

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154300/1/acp3632_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154300/2/acp3632.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154300/3/acp3632-sup-0001-Suppinfo.pd

Exploring The Neural Correlates of Reading Comprehension and Social Cognition Deficits in College Students with ADHD

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Symptoms of this disorder have been shown to adversely impact academic and social functioning of those with ADHD. College students with ADHD, compared to their non-ADHD peers, are at increased risk for academic and social difficulties. Given the reading-intensive and socially-driven environment of the college campus, empirical literature examining the reading comprehension and social cognition of college students are wanting. The current investigation utilized the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT) and Faux Pas Recognition test (FPRT) to assess reading comprehension and social cognition, respectively, in college students with (n = 3) and without ADHD (n = 9). The Short Story Task (SST) was administered during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neural correlates of narrative comprehension and theory of mind (ToM) while reading short fictional stories of varying prose complexity. The ADHD and control groups did not differ in IQ, GPA, or scores of NDRT, FPRT, or SST, suggesting that they had comparable academic performance, narrative comprehension, and social cognition. The fMRI analysis of SST showed that the ADHD group demonstrated increased activation in the left anterior cingulate (ACC) and parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) while reading the complex story compared to the simple story. This differential activation was not observed in the CTRL group, suggesting that the ADHD group required more neural resources to process the emotional components of the complex story to achieve the comparable performance on the SST. The ADHD group additionally exhibited lower activation in the narrative comprehension and ToM networks (medial prefrontal cortex, Broca’s area, angular gyri). Collectively, these results indicate that while ADHD and CTRL groups did not differ behaviorally, they exhibit differential neural activation patterns in tasks related to narrative comprehension and social cognition. Further investigations may inform the development of educational and psychosocial interventions to improve academic and social functioning in young adults with ADHD