University of Canterbury, Canterbury, New Zealand.
Department of Psychology, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, 3F5, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA.
Psychol Res. 2023 Mar;87(2):509-518. doi: 10.1007/s00426-022-01679-7. Epub 2022 Apr 11.
The sustained attention to response task (SART) is a popular measure in the psychology and neuroscience of attention. The underlying psychological cause for errors, in particular errors of commission, in the SART is actively disputed. Some researchers have suggested task-disengagement due to mind-wandering or mindlessness, and others have proposed strategic choices. In this study we explored an alternative perspective based on Signal Detection Theory, in which the high rate of commission errors in the SART reflects simply a shift in response bias (criterion) due to the high prevalence of Go-stimuli. We randomly assigned 406 participants to one of ten Go-stimuli prevalence rates (50%, 64%, 74%, 78%, 82%, 86%, 90%, 94%, 98% and 100%). As Go-stimuli prevalence increased reaction times to both Go and No-Go stimuli decreased, omission errors decreased and commission errors increased. These all were predicted from a hypothesized bias shift, but the findings were not compatible with some alternative theories of SART performance. These findings may have implications for similar tasks.
持续注意反应任务（SART）是心理学和神经科学注意力研究中常用的一种测量方法。SART 中错误（尤其是误报错误）的潜在心理原因存在争议。一些研究人员认为是由于心不在焉或无意识导致的任务脱离，而另一些人则提出了策略选择的观点。在这项研究中，我们基于信号检测理论探讨了另一种观点，即 SART 中高比例的误报错误仅仅反映了由于 Go 刺激的高发生率导致的反应偏差（标准）的转移。我们随机将 406 名参与者分配到十种 Go 刺激发生率（50%、64%、74%、78%、82%、86%、90%、94%、98%和 100%）中的一种。随着 Go 刺激发生率的增加，对 Go 和 No-Go 刺激的反应时间都减少，遗漏错误减少，误报错误增加。这些都可以从假设的偏差转移中预测到，但这些发现与 SART 表现的一些替代理论不兼容。这些发现可能对类似的任务有影响。
