Bishop’s University

Graduate Student Daphne Begin: Sustained Attention – Comparing a New Task to the SART

Daphne is currently enrolled in the Individualized Master’s Program, which offers both structure and flexibility and an ideal combination for developing research experience while refining academic goals. Under the mentorship of Dr. Jonathan Carriere and Dr. Suzanne Hood, she has felt both supported and empowered. Her current project involves designing a new sustained attention task, intended to be compared to the widely used Sustained Attention to Response Task.

Though new to the field of sustained attention, Daphne is confident that the program will provide her with the tools to create a meaningful and impactful study. Daphne Begin chose to pursue graduate studies at Bishop’s University because of its close-knit community and the sense of familiarity she developed during her undergraduate studies in psychology. The transition to graduate studies felt natural, and she appreciated the supportive environment and strong academic foundation offered by the psychology department. With professors specializing in diverse subfields, Bishop’s provided her with the ideal setting to explore her evolving research interests.

Her undergraduate honours thesis, which focused on personality traits and learning environments, gave her an early introduction to the research process. Although her academic interests have since shifted, the skills she developed during that time continue to play a critical role in her current work. Her interest in graduate studies was sparked during an undergrad internship, where she had the opportunity to work alongside clinical psychologist. Their passion for the field left a lasting impression on her and deepened her desire to contribute to psychological research. That experience helped solidify her academic path and motivated her to take the next step toward becoming a researcher.

The idea for her current research emerged organically in conversation with Dr. Carriere. As she shared a potential project idea, he mentioned a similar study he had once hoped to pursue but hadn’t yet had the opportunity. Fascinated, Daphne took on the concept, and together they decided to bring it to life and a collaboration that has been both enriching and rewarding. Her research is grounded in the recognition that sustained attention is an increasingly difficult task in today’s world. While early humans relied on short bursts of attention for survival, modern environments, particularly classrooms, require individuals to maintain focus for long periods. Adding to the challenge are the ever-present distractions such as smartphones and social media, which constantly compete for our attention. Daphne’s project aims to showcase how attention functions in these conditions, with the broader goal of informing strategies to support focus, learning, and academic performance.

The journey has not been without its challenges. One of the most significant has been balancing the technical demands of creating and validating a new cognitive task with the need to ground her research in solid theoretical frameworks. When feeling overwhelmed, Daphne finds it helpful to pause and reassess the project from a new angle. By leaning on the support of her supervisors and breaking the process into manageable steps, she has been able to maintain both momentum and clarity.

Looking ahead, Daphne’s research is laying the groundwork for her ultimate goal: pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Her current work in attention research is particularly relevant to neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD. By building expertise in designing cognitive tasks and analyzing attentional processes, she aims to contribute to the development of better assessment tools and interventions in clinical settings.

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Joannie St-Germain B.Sc. ’16, M.Sc. (she/her/elle)
RESEARCH OFFICER
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES
819-822-9600 x 2242

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