Mind wandering contributes to executive control failure and the worst-performance rule

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Kane ◽  
Jennifer C. McVay
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Control Failure

scholarly journals For Whom the Mind Wanders, and When, Varies Across Laboratory and Daily-Life Settings

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 1271-1289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Kane ◽  
Georgina M. Gross ◽  
Charlotte A. Chun ◽  
Bridget A. Smeekens ◽  
Matt E. Meier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Laboratory Findings ◽  
The Mind

Undergraduates ( N = 274) participated in a weeklong daily-life experience-sampling study of mind wandering after being assessed in the lab for executive-control abilities (working memory capacity; attention-restraint ability; attention-constraint ability; and propensity for task-unrelated thoughts, or TUTs) and personality traits. Eight times a day, electronic devices prompted subjects to report on their current thoughts and context. Working memory capacity and attention abilities predicted subjects’ TUT rates in the lab, but predicted the frequency of daily-life mind wandering only as a function of subjects’ momentary attempts to concentrate. This pattern replicates prior daily-life findings but conflicts with laboratory findings. Results for personality factors also revealed different associations in the lab and daily life: Only neuroticism predicted TUT rate in the lab, but only openness predicted mind-wandering rate in daily life (both predicted the content of daily-life mind wandering). Cognitive and personality factors also predicted dimensions of everyday thought other than mind wandering, such as subjective judgments of controllability of thought. Mind wandering in people’s daily environments and TUTs during controlled and artificial laboratory tasks have different correlates (and perhaps causes). Thus, mind-wandering theories based solely on lab phenomena may be incomplete.

scholarly journals Electroencephalography theta/beta ratio covaries with mind wandering and functional connectivity in the executive control network

2019 ◽  
Vol 1452 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Son ◽  
Mischa Rover ◽  
Frances M. De Blasio ◽  
Willem Does ◽  
Robert J. Barry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Control Network ◽  
Executive Control Network

scholarly journals Aging ebbs the flow of thought: Adult age differences in mind wandering, executive control, and self-evaluation

2013 ◽  
Vol 142 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. McVay ◽  
Matthew E. Meier ◽  
Dayna R. Touron ◽  
Michael J. Kane
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Adult Age ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Adult Age Differences

scholarly journals An Exploratory Analysis of Individual Differences in Mind Wandering Content and Consistency

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Welhaf ◽  
Bridget Anne Smeekens ◽  
Paul Silvia ◽  
Matt Ethan Meier ◽  
Thomas Richard Kwapil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Adult Individual ◽  
The Moment

We conducted an exploratory study of adult individual differences in the contents of mind-wandering experiences and in the moment-to-moment consistency of that off-task thought content within tasks. This secondary analysis of a published dataset (Kane et al., 2016) examined the content-based thought reports that 472-541 undergraduates made within five probed tasks across three sessions, and tested whether executive-control abilities (working memory capacity [WMC], attention-restraint ability), or personality dimensions of schizotypy (positive, disorganized, negative), predicted particular contents of task-unrelated thought (TUT) or the (in)stability of TUT content across successive thought reports. Latent variable models indicated trait-like consistency in both TUT content and short-term TUT content stability across tasks and sessions; some subjects mind-wandered about some things more than others, and some subjects were more temporally consistent in their TUT content than were others. Higher executive control was associated with more evaluative thoughts about task performance and fewer thoughts about current physical or emotional states; higher positive and disorganized schizotypy was associated with more fantastical daydream and worry content. Contrary to expectations, executive ability correlated positively with TUT instability: higher-ability students had more shifting and varied TUT content within a task. Post hoc analysis suggested that better executive control predicted inconsistent TUT content because it also predicted shorter streaks of mind-wandering; tuning back in to task-related thought may decouple trains of off-task thought and afford novel, spontaneous, or cued thought content. [Data, sample analysis scripts and output, and manuscript preprint are available via the Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/guhw7/.]

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