ArticleAttention, perception & psychophysics2024
Effects of goal-setting on sustained attention and attention lapses.
Article in Attention, perception & psychophysics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Periodic performance feedback and cognitive ability interactively mitigate the vigilance decrement.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2026Article
- Science-backed tips on how to avoid distractions.Nature · 2026Article
- Generative AI as an External Cognitive Tool for Developing Creative Intelligence in Visual Design: A Mixed-Methods Randomized Study Using Cognitive Load Indicators and Motivational Modeling.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- Investigating the role of attentional effort in the efficacy of goal-setting in reducing attention lapses.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2025Article
- On dueling multi-act arithmetic: exploring the dynamics of goal-driven competition on engagement and cognition.Experimental brain research · 2025Article
- Building a construct-valid battery of performance and self-report indicators of sustained attention consistency.Behavior research methods · 2025Article
- On the temporal dynamics of reward utilization in dual-task situations.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2025Article
- Individual differences in working memory capacity and temporal preparation: A secondary reanalysis.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2024Article
- Sustained attention can be measured using a brief computerized attention task.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- On the nonlinearity of the foreperiod effect.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Hybrid framework of fatigue: connecting motivational control and computational moderators to gamma oscillations.Frontiers in neuroergonomics · 2024Article
- Side effects of monaural beat stimulation during sustained mental work on mind wandering and performance measures.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
In three experiments, we examined the effects of goal-setting on sustained attention and attention lapses. We measured both behavioral task performance and subjective attentional states during a four -choice reaction time task (Experiments 1 and 2 administered online; Experiment 3 conducted in-person). Experiment 1 compared a vague goal versus a specific goal. The specific goal reduced lapses in the form of long response times (RTs) but did not impact task-unrelated thoughts. Experiment 2 expanded on E1 by making the specific goal progressively harder. Behavioral lapses (i.e., long RTs) were reduced in the harder-over-time goal condition compared to the control condition. Additionally, while RTs increased with time-on-task in the control condition, RTs in the harder-over-time goal condition remained stable with time-on-task. Experiment 3 aimed to replicate the results of E2 in-person and adjusted the difficulty of the harder-over-time goals to be slightly harder. The results largely replicated E2. Overall, setting specific and difficult task goals led to a reduction in lapses of attention and increased sustained attention performance.
Indexed as
Identifiers
37872435What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.