A Laboratory Method for Investigating Influences on Switching Attention to Task-Unrelated Imagery and Thought

Giambra, Leonard M.

doi:10.1006/ccog.1995.1001

Cited by 328 publications

(331 citation statements)

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“…Examples include competitive interactions between emotion and cognition (4,39,40), focused attention vs. monitoring of one's environment for behaviorally relevant events (2), and task focus vs. stimulus independent thought (41)(42)(43)(44).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks

Fox

Snyder

Vincent

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

7,733

521

7,420

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During performance of attention-demanding cognitive tasks, certain regions of the brain routinely increase activity, whereas others routinely decrease activity. In this study, we investigate the extent to which this task-related dichotomy is represented intrinsically in the resting human brain through examination of spontaneous fluctuations in the functional MRI blood oxygen level-dependent signal. We identify two diametrically opposed, widely distributed brain networks on the basis of both spontaneous correlations within each network and anticorrelations between networks. One network consists of regions routinely exhibiting task-related activations and the other of regions routinely exhibiting task-related deactivations. This intrinsic organization, featuring the presence of anticorrelated networks in the absence of overt task performance, provides a critical context in which to understand brain function. We suggest that both task-driven neuronal responses and behavior are reflections of this dynamic, ongoing, functional organization of the brain.functional MRI ͉ functional connectivity ͉ spontaneous activity

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks

Fox

Snyder

Vincent

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

7,733

521

7,420

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In a naturalistic study of prospective memory (Ellis, & Nimmo-Smith, 1993) participants were more likely to report having involuntary recollections (i.e., rehearsals) of the to-be-performed intentions when they were not concentrating on the task at hand (see also Sellen, Louie, Harris, & Wilkins, 1997). On the other hand, Giambra (1995) found that the occurrence of TUITs during an ongoing laboratory vigilance task decreased as the frequency of the to-be-detected targets increased.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out of one’s mind: A study of involuntary semantic memories

Kvavilashvili

Mandler

2004

Cognitive Psychology

195

209

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The study of memories that pop into one's mind without any conscious attempt to retrieve them began only recently. While there are some studies on involuntary autobiographical memories (e.g., Berntsen, 1996; research on involuntary semantic memories or mind-popping is virtually non existent. The latter is defined as an involuntary conscious occurrence of brief items of one's network of semantic knowledge. The recall of these items (e.g., a word, a name, a tune) is not accompanied by additional contextual information and/or involvement of self -a standard feature of involuntary autobiographical memories. The paper reports several diary and questionnaire studies which looked into the nature and frequency of occurrence of these memories. The data show that people do experience involuntary semantic memories which tend to occur without any apparent cues while being engaged in relatively automatic activities. Possible mechanisms of involuntary semantic memories are discussed (e.g., very long-term priming), and the results of the study provide information on the possible duration of the priming effects in everyday life.Related theoretical and methodological issues and future avenues of research in this neglected area are outlined.KEY WORDS: Involuntary memories, mind-popping, autobiographical memory, semantic memory, very long-term priming, implicit memory. 3Out of one's mind: A study of involuntary semantic memories Most laboratory studies of memory investigate processes which deliberately retrieve or identify information acquired in the past. However, much of our everyday remembering consists of information coming to mind involuntarily, i.e., without any conscious attempts to retrieve anything (Mandler, 1986; Winograd, 1993). This type of retrieval has been noted as far back as by Ebbinghaus (1885Ebbinghaus ( /1964 who, among other forms of memory, delineated memories which occur "with apparent spontaneity and without any act of will", and are "brought about through the instrumentality of other, immediately present mental images" (p. 2). Mandler (1989) claimed that "deliberate retrieval of information seems to be the exception rather than the rule" (p. 103). Thus, "we interrupt our stream of thought with ideas that suddenly 'come to mind', we are frequently 'reminded' of one or another occurrence in the past, and often we are aware of memories whose apparent irrelevance to the requirements of the moment surprises us" (p. 291, Mandler, 1986; our italics).Involuntary memories vary greatly in their character and conditions under which they occur (see Mandler, 1994). For example, the phenomenon of incubation, or a sudden recovery from the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) state, or the realization that one had intended to do something at this particular moment (i.e., prospective remembering) -all refer to involuntary retrieval of certain memories and contents.Although the act of retrieval per se is non deliberate and usually sudden, in all those cases it is preceded by repeated attempts to solve a problem (incubation), by a memory...

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“…As the items in all our questionnaires sample routine activities a variety of settings and contexts, receiving a high score implies a rather general trait, which might be taken to suggest a high rate of task-unrelated thought rather than ruminations about the specifics of task performance. It is also possible that such individual differences depend upon endogenous time-linked attention control operators (e.g., Giambra, 1995) and the phenomenological content of the lapses may vary according to context. These sorts of issues could be further explored with awareness probes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As the managers of Vonnegut's fictional society well knew, lapses of attention are also inherently cognitively debilitating. Indeed, individuals for whom intervals between lapses are very short are typically viewed as impaired (Giambra, 1995). Given the prevalence of attentional failures in everyday life and the ubiquitous and sometimes disastrous consequences of such failures, it is rather surprising that relatively little work has been done to directly measure individual differences in everyday errors arising from propensities for failures of attention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absent-mindedness: Lapses of conscious awareness and everyday cognitive failures

Cheyne

Carriere

Smilek

2006

Consciousness and Cognition

368

303

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A brief self-report scale was developed to assess everyday performance failures arising directly or primarily from brief failures of sustained attention (attention-related cognitive errors-ARCES). The ARCES was found to be associated with a more direct measure of propensity to attention lapses (Mindful Attention Awareness Scale-MAAS) and to errors on an existing behavioral measure of sustained attention (Sustained Attention to Response Task-SART). Although the ARCES and MAAS were highly correlated, structural modelling revealed the ARCES was more directly related to SART errors and the MAAS to SART RTs, which have been hypothesized to directly reflect the lapses of attention that lead to SART errors. Thus, the MAAS and SART RTs appear to directly reflect attention lapses, whereas the ARCES and SART errors reflect the mistakes these lapses are thought to cause. Boredom proneness was also assessed by the BPS, as a separate consequence of a propensity to attention lapses. Although the ARCES was significantly associated with the BPS, this association was entirely accounted for by the MAAS, suggesting that performance errors and boredom are separate consequences of lapses in attention. A tendency to even extraordinarily brief attention lapses on the order of milliseconds may have far-reaching consequences not only for safe and efficient task performance but also for sustaining the motivation to persist in and enjoy these tasks.

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A Laboratory Method for Investigating Influences on Switching Attention to Task-Unrelated Imagery and Thought

Cited by 328 publications

References 0 publications

The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks

The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks

Out of one’s mind: A study of involuntary semantic memories

Absent-mindedness: Lapses of conscious awareness and everyday cognitive failures

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