Treffer: Does being away with the fairies really matter? The importance of thought content for task performance on a Go-No-Go target detection task.

Title:
Does being away with the fairies really matter? The importance of thought content for task performance on a Go-No-Go target detection task.
Authors:
Dang J; George Mason University, Department of Psychology, 4400 University Dr, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA. Electronic address: jasmine.s.dang.civ@army.mil., Shaw TH; George Mason University, Department of Psychology, 4400 University Dr, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA. Electronic address: tshaw4@gmu.edu., Helton WS; George Mason University, Department of Psychology, 4400 University Dr, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA. Electronic address: whelton@gmu.edu.
Source:
Applied ergonomics [Appl Ergon] 2025 Nov; Vol. 129, pp. 104607. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Jul 25.
Publication Type:
Journal Article
Language:
English
Journal Info:
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0261412 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1872-9126 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00036870 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Appl Ergon Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):
Publication: Oxford : Butterworth-Heinemann
Original Publication: London.
MeSH Terms:
Task Performance and Analysis* , Attention* , Thinking* , Inhibition, Psychological*, Humans ; Male ; Female ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Awareness ; Reaction Time
Contributed Indexing:
Keywords: Mind-wandering; Mindlessness; Sustained attention to response task; Thought content
Entry Date(s):
Date Created: 20250727 Date Completed: 20250910 Latest Revision: 20250910
Update Code:
20250911
DOI:
10.1016/j.apergo.2025.104607
PMID:
40714400
Database:
MEDLINE

Weitere Informationen

The sustained attention to response task (SART) is a high Go, low No-Go target detection task. Researchers have utilized the SART to study the impact of thought content on human performance. This area of research faces several method issues. Previous research often utilizes psychometrically dubious measures of thought content, conflates trait and state processes, and lacks multiple assessments to enable state process testing. In the present study, 54 participants performed 10 iterations of the SART. After each SART, participants assessed both task-related thoughts and the lack of thoughts occurring during the SART. The lack of awareness of thoughts could be considered a form of mindlessness. Commission errors declined over iterations of the SART, indicating response inhibition improvement with task experience. The within-subjects (state) correlation between self-reported lack of thoughts (i.e., mindlessness) and errors in the SART was, however, near zero, indicating minimal, if any, relationship between self-reported mindlessness and performance. The importance of mindlessness or a lack of awareness of thought content on human performance in the traditional SART may be exaggerated. Researchers using SART or tasks with similar paradigms to assess thought content should consider these findings when interpreting their data.
(Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.