Comparing sustained attention performance across laboratory-based versus web-based settings

• Published in: Attention, perception & psychophysics Vol. 87; no. 6; pp. 2029 - 2040
• Main Authors: Kang, Jinwon, Lowder, Matthew W., Choi, Wonil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.08.2025; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accuracy; Adult; Adults; Aging (Individuals); Attention; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Psychology; Computer Use; Effect Size; Experiments; Feedback (Response); Female; Humans; Individual Differences; Information Processing; Internet; Laboratories; Laboratory Experiments; Laboratory Procedures; Male; Neurological Impairments; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Psychology; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Reading Skills; Registered Reports and Replications; Sample Size; Short Term Memory; Stimuli; Within-subjects design; Word Frequency; Word Recognition; Young Adult; Experimental environment; Sustained attention to response task; Sustained attention
• ISSN: 1943-3921; 1943-393X; 1943-393X
• DOI: 10.3758/s13414-025-03126-2

Recently, there have been many attempts to replicate effects that have traditionally been observed in laboratory-based settings using web-based settings. While many classic effects have indeed been found to replicate, it is also true that web-based experiments often yield slower reaction times and less accurate responses compared with lab-based experiments. The aim of the current study was to compare performance on the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) across lab-based and web-based settings using a repeated-measures, within-subjects design. The results indicated no significant differences between the lab-based and web-based settings in reaction times for both go and no-go trials, as well as in post-error slowing. Additionally, no significant differences were observed in the accuracy of no-go trials. However, the standard deviation of reaction times was smaller in the lab-based setting, and accuracy in go trials was higher in the lab-based setting compared with the web-based setting. These findings suggest that a web-based setting can effectively replicate a laboratory-based setting in terms of reaction times, indicating that sustained attention effects are comparable across settings. However, the lower accuracy observed in the web-based setting suggests that participants may engage with the task less carefully. Furthermore, the greater variability in reaction times in the web-based setting implies a higher susceptibility to external influences. These results highlight the importance of careful methodological considerations when designing and interpreting the results of web-based experiments.