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The Effect of Executive Control Depletion on Within-Task Transfer

Description

In everyday life, mental fatigue can be detrimental across many domains including driving, learning, and working. Given the importance of understanding and accounting for the deleterious effects of mental fatigue on behavior, a growing body of literature has studied the role of executive control processes in mental fatigue. In a…

In everyday life, mental fatigue can be detrimental across many domains including driving, learning, and working. Given the importance of understanding and accounting for the deleterious effects of mental fatigue on behavior, a growing body of literature has studied the role of executive control processes in mental fatigue. In a laboratory setup, participants complete a task that places demands on executive control processes and are later given a transfer task. Generally speaking, decrements to subsequent task performance are taken as evidence that the initial executive control task created mental fatigue through the continued engagement of executive control. Several hypotheses have been developed to account for negative transfer resulting from executive control depletion including cognitive resource depletion and task-switching. In the current study, we provide a brief literature review, specify current theoretical approaches to depletion, and provide a strong empirical test of theories for negative transfer from executive control depletion (i.e., does continued performance of an executive control task negatively transfer to that exact same task).

ContributorsLau, Kin Hang (Author) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis director) / Knight, George (Committee member) / Blais, Chris (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)

Created2014-12

An Experimental Evaluation of the Influence of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to the Trigeminal Nerve on Attention and Arousal

Description

Sustained attention, the ability to concentrate on a stimulus or task over a prolonged period, is essential for goal pursuit and fulfillment. Sustained attention failures can have catastrophic consequences, underscoring the importance of understanding the mechanisms that underlie variability in sustained attention, and developing interventions targeting these mechanisms to reduce…

Sustained attention, the ability to concentrate on a stimulus or task over a prolonged period, is essential for goal pursuit and fulfillment. Sustained attention failures can have catastrophic consequences, underscoring the importance of understanding the mechanisms that underlie variability in sustained attention, and developing interventions targeting these mechanisms to reduce such failures. A growing body of research implicates the brainstem locus coeruleus (LC) as a core modulator of attention and arousal. Activation of LC afferents, such as the trigeminal nerve, may indirectly modulate the LC. The altered LC activity could theoretically be tracked via well-established psychological and physiological indicators of attention and arousal, such as performance, self-reports of attention state, and pupillary activity during attention tasks. The present study tests the hypothesis that continuous transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the trigeminal nerve of the face improves attentional state, attentional performance, and pupillary reactivity via indirect modulation of the LC. Participants received 2 mA of anodal or cathodal stimulation or sham stimulation over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex while completing the Psychomotor Vigilance Task. Participants occasionally reported on their attentional state. Pupillary activity was recorded continuously throughout the task. To compare patterns of attention task performance, frequency of task-unrelated thoughts, and pupillary activity across time by stimulation condition, linear mixed-effects models were implemented. The results replicate the complex interplay between attentional state, attentional performance, and pupillary activity reported in the literature. Specifically, a ubiquitous pattern of performance deterioration was observed, which coincided with an increase in task-unrelated thoughts and reduced pretrial and task-evoked pupil responses. However, tDCS over the face did not produce significant effects compared to the sham condition in attention task performance, proportion of task-unrelated thoughts, and pupillary activity that would indicate LC modulation. This study addresses the causal relations between LC activity, attentional state, attentional performance, and pupillary reactivity that are still poorly understood in human subjects. The findings reported here support the dominant theory of the role of the LC in attentional processes but fail to support hypotheses suggesting that tDCS of the trigeminal nerve influences activity of the LC and indicators of LC activity.

ContributorsTorres, Alexis Stephanie (Author) / Brewer, Gene A (Thesis advisor) / Robison, Matthew K (Committee member) / McClure, Samuel M (Committee member) / Helms Tillery, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2022

Do you really need a break? Assessing the effect of taking breaks on performance in sustained attention tasks

Description

This study is a replication of the investigation titled “Pupillary correlates of lapses of sustained attention,” which examined if measuring pupil diameters was an effective way of assessing one’s level of attention (Unsworth and Robison, 2016). The original study had thirty-nine participants undergo 160 trials of a simple reaction time…

This study is a replication of the investigation titled “Pupillary correlates of lapses of sustained attention,” which examined if measuring pupil diameters was an effective way of assessing one’s level of attention (Unsworth and Robison, 2016). The original study had thirty-nine participants undergo 160 trials of a simple reaction time task, as well as responding to thought probes to self-report how focused they are on the task. The current study would keep similar methods, but introduce minute-long breaks, group spaced throughout the investigation. The prediction of this study is that the pupillary responses will decrease until the break, then the pupil diameter would return to baseline. This would indicate that the individual would have renewed his/her focus after taking a break.

ContributorsBrown, Faith (Author) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis director) / Robinson, Mathew (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2020-05

Effects of Comorbid Anxiety on Working Memory, Behavioral Inhibition, and Sustained Attention Performance among Children Diagnosed with ADHD

Description

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with a high rate of comorbidity with anxiety disorders (25-34%). Children with ADHD experience serious adverse outcomes secondary to impairment in executive function, particularly within the domain of working memory (WM), behavioral inhibition (BI), and sustained attention (SA). While executive function deficits in ADHD…

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with a high rate of comorbidity with anxiety disorders (25-34%). Children with ADHD experience serious adverse outcomes secondary to impairment in executive function, particularly within the domain of working memory (WM), behavioral inhibition (BI), and sustained attention (SA). While executive function deficits in ADHD are well documented, whether and how comorbid anxiety affects cognitive performance are equivocal. One potential explanation is that most studies examine linear relations, yet evidence suggests that anxiety affects performance in a non-linear (quadratic) manner, consistent with the the Yerkes-Dodson Law. The aim of this study was to investigate whether 1) children with ADHD show deficits in WM, BI, and SA relative to typically developing children, 2) comorbid anxiety displays a linear or nonlinear relationship with WM, BI, and SA performance among children with ADHD and 3) between group differences in cognitive performance vary based on levels of anxiety. Linear and non-linear relations between anxiety and cognitive performance were assessed in a sample of 54 boys diagnosed with ADHD and 50 typically developing boys. Anxiety was assessed across dimensions and raters. Results indicate rater and domain-specific effects of comorbid anxiety on cognitive performance. Non-linear relations between children’s self-rated physiological anxiety and Phonological working memory (PHWM), Visuospatial working memory (VSWM), and the Central Executive (CE) were found. Non-linear relations between parent-rated anxiety and PHWM and the CE were also found. However, no significant linear or non-linear effects of anxiety on BI and SA were found. The results indicate that children with moderate self-rated and parent-rated anxiety performed better on WM measures relative to those with low and high levels of self-rated and parent-rated anxiety. The present study was the first to examine and document non-linear effects of anxiety on cognitive performance among children diagnosed with ADHD. Given the results, clinicians should continue to assess anxiety during diagnostic screening in ADHD samples. Treatments should focus on compensating for CE abilities and mitigating high levels of anxiety as it may further impair WM.

ContributorsRivard, Ashley (Author) / Friedman, Lauren (Thesis director) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)

Created2022-05