Phone usage in the classroom has been linked to worsened academic outcomes. We present findings from a field experiment conducted at a large public university in partnership with an app marketed as a soft commitment device that provides incentives to reduce phone use in the classroom. We find that app usage led to improvements in classroom focus,…

Two experiments served to test the hypothesis that partially masking speech with pink noise (Experiment 1) or speech babble (Experiment 2) induces particularly pronounced metacognitive illusions in judgments about the distracting effects of task-irrelevant speech on cognitive performance. We hypothesized that the experimental manipulations would…

Educators instruct students in ways of thinking every day--from critical thinking to logical reasoning to abstract and conceptual thought. But thinking can get overwhelming, and it's easy for students' minds to wander. Juan-Diego Estrada explains how educators can incorporate mindfulness practices into the school day to help students focus,…

Language plays a fundamental role in enabling flexible, goal-directed behaviour. This study investigated whether the contribution of language to instruction encoding is modulated by the expression of autism traits, as measured by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (ASQ) questionnaire. Participants (N = 108) completed six choice reaction time tasks, with…

This paper explores barriers to student in-class attention during lecture. It also tests how these barriers can be reduced for better student learning outcomes. Analyzed using quantitative and qualitative techniques, data were randomly collected from 129 university undergraduate students through a questionnaire consisting of 20 open- and…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the barriers that prevent workers in the software industry from experiencing flow in their work. Design/methodology/approach: This study was conducted by using a qualitative critical incident technique-inspired questionnaire. Findings: The findings suggest that workers in the software industry…

Applying 10 Hz ([alpha]-rate) sensory stimulation, not 5 Hz ([theta]-rate), prior to introducing novel speech-print pairs can reset the phase of [theta] oscillations and enhance associative learning. This rapid gain indicates coordinated mechanisms to regulate attentional/cognitive resources ([alpha] oscillations) and facilitate memory storage…

Two experiments examined the dual influence of mind wandering (MW) on the incubation of both deliberate and spontaneous modes of creativity. Specifically, using a modified version of Sustained Attention Response Task as the incubation task, this study assessed whether taking a break from a creative task and engaging in either an MW-allowed task or…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational-predictive study was to determine if and to what extent there is a relationship between facets of trait mindfulness and perceived attention control among college students in Southern California. The study was formulated based on the multi-faceted mindfulness model and the Attention Control Theory. The…

Purpose: This study investigated the ecological validity of conventional voice assessments by comparing the self-perceived voice quality and acoustic characteristics of voice production during these assessments to those in a simulated environment with varying distracting conditions and noise levels. Method: Forty-two university professors (26…

Motor performance has been shown to be superior when focusing on a physically farther environmental cue (external focus-far, EF-far) instead of a cue proximal to the body (EF-near). However, little is known about whether these foci affect bimanual tasks. Further, the effect of visual information on attentional focus is unclear. In the present…

Background: Collaborative problem-solving (CPS), encompassing social and cognitive domains, is recognised as a critical competency for current and future learners. While the cognitive domain, rooted in individual problem-solving, is relatively well understood, the social domain, manifested through social interaction, remains a challenge,…

Emotions are omnipresent in any court of law. In this short take, I suggest applying the Articulated Thought in Simulated Situations (ATSS) paradigm as a useful addition to supplement methodologies like interviewing and observations. ATSS, which originated in social sciences to study cognitive--behavioral topics, can be easily adapted for use in…

Never has the domain of sports coaching been so inundated with "secondary information." In high-performance contexts, for example, coaches are routinely presented with detailed reports specifying features about an athlete's or team's performance. Here, we question whether such detailed secondary information has led us to know "too…

Most research on early language learning focuses on the objects that infants see and the words they hear in their daily lives, although growing evidence suggests that motor development is also closely tied to language development. To study the real-time behaviors required for learning new words during free-flowing toy play, we measured infants'…