A Trial Study on Restraint of Mind-Wandering while Viewing Educational Videos by Adjusting Biofeedback Operations

NAGAHAMA, Toru; NOSE, Naoki; KAWASHIMA, Issaku · 2021 · Crossref

DOI: 10.58459/icce.2021.4310

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Summary

This study investigates the potential of biofeedback to restrain mind-wandering (MW) during educational video viewing. Mind-wandering, defined as the unconscious occurrence of thoughts irrelevant to the current task, is negatively correlated with learning outcomes. Building on prior work that quantified MW intensity using electroencephalograms (EEG) and machine learning, this research experimentally examined whether introducing an auditory beep as biofeedback upon MW detection could help learners maintain focus. The experiment involved ten university students who watched educational videos on research ethics for twenty minutes under two counterbalanced conditions: an experimental condition and a control condition. In the experimental condition, a beep was triggered when a pre-prepared machine learning model, based on individual EEG data, detected MW. In the control condition, beeps were introduced at random times. Participants were instructed to concentrate on the videos upon hearing the beep. Data collection included a seven-item questionnaire assessing subjective states such as drowsiness, concentration, and attention, as well as interviews regarding the timing and perceived appropriateness of the beeps. Statistical analysis involved tallying positive and negative responses and calculating direct probabilities for bias. Results indicated significant differences in subjective experiences between conditions. In the experimental condition, participants reported significantly less sleepiness and daydreaming compared to the control condition, where these reports were high. Both conditions showed significant reports of feeling tired and bored, and participants in both conditions agreed that the beep caught their attention. However, there was no significant difference between conditions regarding whether participants realized they were daydreaming when the beep occurred. Interview results provided mixed feedback: positive impressions included hearing the beep while thinking of unrelated things, daydreaming, or feeling sleepy, and not hearing it while concentrating. Negative impressions included hearing the beep while concentrating or reading text, and perceiving the beeps as regular or predictable. The study concludes that while EEG-based detection can identify states associated with mind-wandering, such as daydreaming or sleepiness, the effectiveness of the biofeedback in actively restraining MW remains inconclusive. The lack of significant bias in self-reported realization of daydreaming suggests that the beep did not necessarily lead to immediate cognitive correction. Furthermore, false positives, where beeps occurred during focused attention, highlight the need for improved detection accuracy. The authors suggest that future research should refine the biofeedback mechanism and conduct more comprehensive experiments to establish a clearer relationship between auditory feedback and the restraint of mind-wandering.

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• mind wandering