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ERIC Number: EJ1264665
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2227-7102
EISSN: N/A
The Feasibility of Attention Training for Reducing Mind-Wandering and Digital Multitasking in High Schools
Mrazek, Alissa J.; Mrazek, Michael D.; Carr, Peter C.; Delegard, Alex M.; Ding, Margaret G.; Garcia, Daniel I.; Greenstein, Jenna E.; Kirk, Arianna C.; Kodama, Erika E.; Krauss, Miel J.; Landry, Alex P.; Stokes, Crystal A.; Wickens, Kyla D.; Wong, Kyle; Schooler, Jonathan W.
Education Sciences, v10 Article 201 2020
During academic activities, adolescents must manage both the internal distraction of mind-wandering and the external distraction of digital media. Attention training has emerged as a promising strategy for minimizing these distractions, but scalable interventions that can deliver effective attention training in high schools are still needed. The present investigation used a one-group pre-post design to examine the feasibility and outcomes of a digital attention training course at a public high school. The intervention was delivered with reasonably strong fidelity of implementation, with students completing 92% of the lessons and 79% of the daily exercises. At baseline, students reported mind-wandering more frequently during class than they multitasked, and mind-wandering was more negatively correlated with classroom focus. From pre-test to post-test (n = 229), students reported improved emotional regulation and reduced mind-wandering during daily life. Among the 76% of students who felt they paid attention in class less than they should, classroom focus improved significantly. During class, these students reported significantly less mind-wandering but slightly greater digital multitasking. During homework, they reported significantly less digital multitasking but only marginally reduced mind-wandering. Collectively, these results suggest that online interventions could be a scalable way of providing attention training in high schools, but that future work must consider the role of both mind-wandering and digital multitasking.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A170445