Boredom is an important personal and social problem, but the phenomena itself remains poorly understood. Recent work has shown that boredom is highly related to attention, and that this relationship ...may be instrumental in revealing boredom’s causes and consequences. In this paper, experimental findings on trait boredom, state boredom, and sustained attention performance are presented. We demonstrate that trait boredom uniquely predicts sustained attention performance, over and above depression and self-report attention problems. We also present exploratory findings consistent with the claim that attention failures may cause boredom and that sustained attention tasks may themselves be boring. Discussion of each of these findings, and potential ramifications for cognitive research as a whole, is included.
Out of My Skull Danckert, James; Eastwood, John D
2020, 2020-06-09
eBook
Usually when we're bored, we try to distract ourselves. But soon enough, boredom returns. James Danckert and John Eastwood argue that we can learn to handle boredom more effectively by recognizing ...what research shows: boredom indicates unmet psychological needs. Boredom, therefore, can motivate us to change what isn't working in our lives.
Our central goal is to provide a definition of boredom in terms of the underlying mental processes that occur during an instance of boredom. Through the synthesis of psychodynamic, existential, ...arousal, and cognitive theories of boredom, we argue that boredom is universally conceptualized as "the aversive experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity." We propose to map this conceptualization onto underlying mental processes. Specifically, we propose that boredom be defined in terms of attention. That is, boredom is the aversive state that occurs when we (a) are not able to successfully engage attention with internal (e.g., thoughts or feelings) or external (e.g., environmental stimuli) information required for participating in satisfying activity, (b) are focused on the fact that we are not able to engage attention and participate in satisfying activity, and (c) attribute the cause of our aversive state to the environment. We believe that our definition of boredom fully accounts for the phenomenal experience of boredom, brings existing theories of boredom into dialogue with one another, and suggests specific directions for future research on boredom and attention.
Trait boredom plays a significant role in well-being. However, this construct suffers from conceptual ambiguity and measurement problems. The aim of this study was to propose a comprehensive theory ...and a strong assessment tool to address these limitations. We defined trait boredom as the frequent experience of state boredom resulting from a chronic lack of agency. We developed a six-item self-report scale of the tendency to often experience boredom. Results confirmed a uni-dimensional scale with strong psychometric properties, including adequate internal consistency (ω = .84–.93), interindividual stability (69.04% of variance accounted by a trait factor), and acceptable model fit (CFI = .977–.998, TLI = .962–.997, RMSEA = .025–.090, SRMR = .014–.029). Results confirmed the validity of the scale by showing its associations with related measures. Our findings provide clarity on trait boredom and a strong, new measure to be used in future work.
The goal of this review is to critically examine contradictory findings in the study of visual search for emotionally expressive faces. Several key issues are addressed: Can emotional faces be ...processed preattentively and guide attention? What properties of these faces influence search efficiency? Is search moderated by the emotional state of the observer? The authors argue that the evidence is consistent with claims that (a) preattentive search processes are sensitive to and influenced by facial expressions of emotion, (b) attention guidance is influenced by a dynamic interplay of emotional and perceptual factors, and (c) visual search for emotional faces is influenced by the emotional state of the observer to some extent. The authors also argue that the way in which contextual factors interact to determine search performance needs to be explored further to draw sound conclusions about the precise influence of emotional expressions on search efficiency. Methodological considerations (e.g., set size, distractor background, task set) and ecological limitations of the visual search task are discussed. Finally, specific recommendations are made for future research directions.
•A large (N = 249) sample.•Negative correlation between trait mindfulness and trait boredom replicated.•Positive correlation between trait mindfulness and sustained attention accuracy replicated.•No ...correlation between meditation experience and affect after sustained attention task.•Relationship between mindfulness and sustained attention performance mediated by affect.
Sustaining attention for extended periods of time is associated with negative affect and this increase in negative affect is related to poorer task performance. Trait mindfulness has been shown to be associated with better sustained attention performance. This may be because trait mindfulness is associated with better attention ability or better emotion regulation ability.
The present research aims to replicate previous findings and better understand why trait mindfulness is associated with better sustained attention performance.
Participants responded to self-report questionnaires assessing their trait mindfulness, attentional control, and experiential avoidance. Next, participants performed a sustained attention task, during which they also reported their subjective feelings of discomfort and boredom. Finally, participants reported their retrospective discomfort and boredom after the task.
We replicated and extended previous findings by showing that the relationship between trait mindfulness and sustained attention performance was mediated by negative affect experienced during the task. Moreover, the correlation between trait mindfulness and sustained attention disappeared when controlling for experiential avoidance, but remined when controlling for attention control.
Our results suggest that trait mindfulness is associated with sustained attention because of enhanced emotion regulation and that enhancing affective regulation would be an effective strategy for improving sustained attention performance.
Introduction: Health practitioners have long had a tradition of maintaining the privacy of information obtained from patient consultations. Forrester and Griffiths observe that ‘there is an ...expectation that health professionals will keep confidential all information acquired as part of their role in the healthcare team. With this expectation patients feel confident to confide very confidential information. Without this confidence patients may be reluctant to seek advice from health professionals. But who is the healthcare team and to what extent can information of a personal and private nature be shared, used or disclosed within that team without the patient’s direct consent. Description of policy context and objective: Modern quality medicine has moved toward utilisation of integrated systems that include multidisciplinary teams, bio-psycho-social interventions, and follow-up care often by other professionals and agencies. Such approaches are considered to be part of an evidence-informed “duty of care”. But an approach that aims to act in the best interest of patients is also in tension with the principle of respect for patient autonomy. Central to clinical integration is the sharing of clinical information between providers of care to patients. Some of those providers will be known to the patient while others (i.e. clinical supervisors, pathology and imaging services) will not. A further complexity is that some practitioners may not be considered members of the traditional health care team (i.e. school educational psychologists, security staff, religious counsellors, disability support workers, and practitioners working in the criminal justice sector). Thus the provision of excellent integrated clinical care requires the sharing of clinical information with a multidisciplinary health care team of clinicians from across a wide range of sectors and disciplines. Targeted population: Australian resident population. Highlights: This study explores Australian legislative provisions in relation to patient privacy in the context of integrated health and social care and the development of multidisciplinary health care teams that include practitioners from private sector and government agencies in the health, education, child protection, family welfare, disability, aged-care, housing, local government and criminal justice sectors. The definition of a multidisciplinary health care team and the extent to which health information can be shared within the team is examined. Australian Commonwealth and State legislation provides for the sharing within a health care team of health information where that is for the primary purpose it was collected, and for a secondary purpose where that is directly related to the primary purpose, or might be reasonably expected by the patient for the provision of their care. For this purpose consent is not required. Comments on transferability: The analysis was restricted to Australian legislation. Transferability to other jurisdictions cannot be assessed. Conclusions: It seems that, in Australia, multidisciplinary interagency health care teams can collect and share health information, without consent, provided the purpose is closely related to the primary purpose it was collected.
Introduction: In March 2014, the New South Wales (NSW) State Government of Australia announced the NSW Integrated Care Strategy. The NSW Government’s Integrated Care Strategy funding enabled the ...establishment of an integrated care initiative called Healthy Homes and Neighbourhoods (HHAN). The Initiative was designed as a population-based, family-centered, care-coordination network that functioned across agencies to assist vulnerable families to navigate the health and social-care system, to keep themselves and their children safe, and in doing so, promote social cohesiveness. The intention was also to reduce unplanned and potentially preventable or avoidable admissions to hospital. Theory/Methods: The HHAN evaluation framework included the monitoring of unplanned and potentially preventable or avoidable admissions to hospital. Ethics was obtained for the analysis of quantitative outcomes of HHAN clients. In accordance with Clause 17(3)(d) of the NSW Health Administration Regulations, personally identifying information (including names) can be provided to the Centre for Health Record Linkage for the purpose of obtaining a unique identifier number to be used for the purposes of funding, management, planning and evaluation of health services. Minimum data on patients accessing the Integrated Care (IC) services was linked to: i) records of the Admitted Patient Data Collection (public hospitals) and NSW Private Hospital Inpatient Statistics Collection, from 1 January 2010 onwards ii) records of the Emergency Department Data Collection, from 1 January 2010 onwards. Results: Preliminary results demonstrated a reduction in probable preventable hospitalisation, emergency department visits, admissions and length of stay for members of HHAN families. The impact varied by age and gender but was evident for both child and adult members of HHAN families. The reductions were greater in the second year after enrolment with HHAN Integrated Care Program. Discussions: The preliminary hospital related outcome evaluation findings suggest that HHAN is having a positive impact on avoiding hospital presentation. In order to directly measure the impact of IC on outcomes for patients a reliable estimate of the counterfactual would ideally be obtained. Given that a randomised control trial is not feasible for IC, Propensity Score Matching (PSM) techniques will be employed to retrospectively construct a plausible comparison group. Conclusions (comprising key findings): The HHAN Initiative was designed to assist vulnerable families to navigate the health and social-care system, to keep themselves and their children safe. The initiative was originally conceived as a “twin generation” child protection intervention with outcome objectives related to child development, housing and family safety. The reduction in avoidable hospital presentations and admissions was unexpected. The findings suggest that targeted “whole of family” interventions may be beneficial more generally. Lessons learned: Intensive whole of family wrap around care coordination of vulnerable families has a positive impact on a avoidable hospital presentations and admissions Limitations: The results are preliminary and not yet subject to comparison with a counterfactual population group. Suggestions for future research: The HHAN intervention model should be studied with other “high risk” patient groups including those adults who do not have children.
Background: Realist research methodology is increasingly being used for the design and evaluation of integrated care initiatives. Much of current realist research and evaluation is qualitative in ...nature and yet many realist methodologists, including Pawson, Tilley, Sayer and Olsen, have argued for the use of mixed methods. There remains much debate regarding the role of quantitative methods, including statistics, within a critical realist philosophical framework. For many realist researchers the use of quantitative methods is both a philosophical and methodological stumbling block. Yet quantitative methods can contribute to realist theory building,, design and theory testing through their ability to use observable events to infer the existence of underlying mechanisms and to detect changes in both context and outcomes. Aims and Objectives: 1- To examine debates about the use of quantitative methods in realist research and evaluation, either as part of a mixed-method design or on their own. 2- To demonstrate the use of realist quantitative methods for both integrated care design and evaluation Format: 90 minutes, one speaker and facilitator, Group work at tables using problem-based learning. Discussion, debate and learning resources. Target Audience: Integrated care design and evaluation practitioners and researchers. Qualitative and quantitative researchers. Mixed methodologists. Learning and Takeaway: Increased understanding of how quantitative methods can be appropriately used with realist methodology. Introduction to the use of advanced quantitative methods for design and evaluation of integrated care initiatives including latent class analysis, latent variable pathways, and discontiuity quasiexperimental designs.
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