A plausible link between the time-on-task effect and the sequential task effect

Abstract

Mental fatigue can be studied by using either the time-on-task protocol or the sequential task protocol. In the time-on-task protocol, participants perform a long and effortful task and a decrease in performance in this task is generally observed over time. In the sequential task protocol, a first effortful or control task is followed by a second effortful task. The performance in the second task is generally worse after the effortful task than after the control task. The principal aim of the present experiment is to examine the relationship between these two decrements in performance while concomitantly using a sequential task protocol and assessing the performance of the first effortful task as a function of time-on-task. We expect a positive correlation between these two decrements in performance. A total of 83 participants performed a 30-min fatiguing mental task (i.e., a modified Stroop task) or a control task followed by a time-to-exhaustion handgrip task. As expected, this protocol combining the time-on-task and sequential task protocols allowed us to observe (1) a decrease in performance over time during the Stroop task, (2) a worst performance in the handgrip task after the Stroop task by comparison to the control task, (3) a positive correlation between these two effects. The decrease in performance during the Stroop task also correlated with the subjective measures of boredom and fatigue, whereas the detrimental effect observed in the handgrip task did not. Our findings suggest that the two fatigue-related phenomena share a common mechanism but are not completely equivalent.

Probing sustained attention and fatigue across the lifespan

“…Further research could link changes in the oscillatory signal to this objective performance and the subjective experience of fatigue, and this would help to ground research on fatigue in clinically relevant theoretical conceptualisations [ 29 , 83 ] as well as help to better understand innate and lasting proclivity to fatigue. Another open avenue of research is the comparison of this attentional approach to other paradigms and tasks with higher cognitive demands [ 84 , 85 ] or using a task-switching approach [ 86 ].…”

Effects of mental fatigue on biomechanical characteristics of lower extremities in patients with functional ankle instability during unanticipated side-step cutting

“…The Stroop task has been proven effective in inducing MF ( Mangin et al, 2022 ). In the current study, a 45-min Stroop task included four words in Chinese (red, yellow, blue, and green) that were displayed randomly in one of the four colors.…”

A Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect: Control of Effort Engagement during the Depleting Task with Electroencephalography and Heart-Rate Variability

“…In general, tasks that involve core executive functions, including cognitive flexibility, updating of working memory, and inhibitory control, are good candidates for generating effortful control costs (André et al, 2019;Hofmann et al, 2012) and inducing the ego-depletion effect (Dang et al, 2021). For instance, while the choice of the letter-crossing task as a depleting task was not successful (Etherton et al, 2018;Wimmer et al, 2019;Xu et al, 2014), a modified Stroop task tapping two executive functions, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, was effective at inducing the ego depletion effect (Dang, 2018;Hagger et al, 2010;Mangin et al, 2021Mangin et al, , 2022.…”