The Role of State and Trait Self-Control on the Sustained Attention to Response Task

Objective: This study aimed to assess the plausibility of self-control depletion, or ego-depletion, as the underlying cognitive resource responsible for performance decrements on the sustained attention to response task.

Background: Researchers suggested that self-control is a limited cognitive resource used to complete a myriad of processes, including sustained attention. Past research showed that trait self-control affects some sustained attention tasks. However, little research has investigated the effect of self-control as a limited cognitive resource that varies over time (i.e., as a state-dependent variable).

Methods: This experiment investigated the effect of self-control (trait and state) on a sustained motor-inhibition task (e.g., sustained attention to response task; SART). State self-control was manipulated using a between-subjects design-participants in the experimental condition completed a task designed to deplete state self-control prior to performing the SART while the control condition completed a modified version that did not deplete self-control.

Results: Trait self-control predicted performance on the SART, but the depletion task (state self-control) had no detectable effect.

Conclusion: Given the evidence, it is unlikely that state self-control plays a causal role in performance decrements in the SART, but there appears to be some association between performance on the SART and trait self-control.

Application: Trait self-control ought to be considered in future work for personnel selection in real-world tasks that the SART models such as long-distance driving, air traffic control, and TSA operations.