Sustained Attention and Feedback

Sustained attention, the ability to maintain goal-directed focus over time, is a foundational cognitive function that supports performance in all areas of life. Continuous performance tasks (CPTs), such as the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) and the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), are widely used to assess sustained attention because they provide measures of attentional fluctuations and lapses. Despite their extensive use, performance on these tasks is not static and can be influenced by contextual factors such as motivation, incentives, and performance feedback. Prior research has consistently shown that performance feedback can improve CPT performance which leading to faster reaction times, reduced attentional lapses, and improved accuracy during task completion. Feedback is theorized to enhance sustained attention by increasing task engagement, strengthening performance monitoring, and encouraging strategic adjustments. However, most existing studies focus on immediate or within-session effects of feedback, leaving open a critical question: Does feedback produce short-term benefits that persist after feedback is removed from the task? The present study addresses this gap by examining whether performance feedback produces short-term transfer effects on sustained attention across sessions separated by approximately 48 hours. Specifically, the study investigates whether exposure to feedback during an initial session improves subsequent performance when individuals complete the same tasks again without feedback.