Research On The Sustained Attention Of College Students With Boredom Tendency

Compared with middle school students,college students are more independent and autonomous,and have more leisure time to spend.Especially in recent years,due to the impact of COVID-19,many college students were confined to school,online classes had became the norm,and "boredom" had became the mantra of college students.Boredom prone individuals often find it difficult to maintain attention in daily life,possibly due to the latent influence of mind wandering.This study explored the characteristics and mechanism of sustained attention of boredom prone college students,provided certain empirical evidence for the attention function of boredom prone individuals,and also provided idea for the intervention of sustained attention of boredom prone college students from the perspective of mind wandering,which had practical significance.This study consisted of three parts: First,in order to understand the level of boredom tendency of college students,study 1 investigated the characteristics of boredom tendency of college students by using the "boredom tendency questionnaire of college students";Study 2 used the Continuous Performance Test(AX-CPT)task using2(groups: college students with high boredom propensity vs.The mixed experimental design of college students with low boredom tendency)×4(stimulus types: AX sequence,BX sequence,AY sequence,BY sequence)was designed to investigate whether there were differences in sustained attention of college students with different boredom tendency under different types of stimulus cues.On this basis,study 3 used the classical Sustained Attention to Response Task(SART)to investigate the mental wandering of college students with high boredom tendency,and adopted 2(mental wandering frequency: high-frequency mental wandering vs.Low frequency mind wandering)×4(stimulus types: AX sequence,BX sequence,AY sequence,BY sequence)mixed experimental design,respectively to explore the characteristics of sustained attention under different types of stimulus cues,and further explored the role of mind wandering in sustained attention of college students with high boredom tendency.Based on the above three studies,the following results were obtained:(1)The boredom tendency of college students was generally at a medium level,and the phenomenon of boredom was more common in college students.The score of boredom tendency of female students was higher than that of male students.The score of boredom tendency of sophomore students was higher than that of other grades.College students who were class leaders were less likely to feel bored.(2)In the AX-CPT task,the task performance of college students with high boredom tendency was significantly worse than that of college students with low boredom tendency.In AY sequence and BX sequence,college students with high boredom tendency had slower reaction time and lower accuracy,indicating that college students with high boredom tendency had worse sustained attention.(3)The frequency of task-independent thoughts detected during SART tasks can effectively reflected the individual’s mental wandering.In the AX-CPT task,compared with the students with high boredom tendency and low frequency mind wandering,the students with high boredom tendency and high frequency mind wandering performed worse.In AY sequence and BX sequence,students with high frequency mind wandering had longer reaction time and lower accuracy,indicated that students with high frequency mind wandering and high boredom tendency had worse sustained attention,and mind wandering played a buffer role in sustained attention of students with high boredom tendency.Conclusion: Boredom is a common phenomenon in college students,and individuals with different boredom tendencies have significant differences in sustained attention,which can provide reference for further discussion on the mechanism of sustained attention of boredom prone college students,and help to improve attention and stability of attention of boredom prone college students.