Abstract
Mind wandering (MW) is a pervasive phenomenon that occurs very frequently, regardless of the task. A content-based definition of MW holds that it occurs when the content of thought switches from an ongoing task and/or an external stimulus-driven event to self-generated or inner thoughts. A recent account suggests that the transition between these different states of attention occurs via an off-focus state. Following this suggestion, previous work relating MW to pupil size might have lumped attentional states that are critically different from each (i.e., off-focus and MW states). In the present study, both behavior and pupil size were measured during a sustained-attention-to-response task, to disentangle the content of thought (on task or MW) from an off-focus state of mind. The off-focus state was operationalized by probing the intensity with which participants were on task or mind-wandering. The results of two experiments showed that the behavioral and phasic pupillary responses were sensitive to changes related to the content of thought. The behavioral responses were furthermore related to the intensity of the thought. However, no clear relation between the different attentional states and tonic pupillary diameter was found, suggesting that it is an unreliable proxy for MW.
Highlights
Mind wandering (MW) is a pervasive phenomenon that occurs very frequently, regardless of the task
Effects of attentional state on reaction time coefficient of variability (RTCV) Because the model by Mittner et al (2016) predicts that behavioral variability will be lowest for an on-task state, highest for an active MW state, and intermediate for an “off-focus” state, we tested the effects of the content and intensity of thought and their interaction on RTCV
sustained-attention-toresponse task (SART) performance In this first analysis, we investigated Effects of attentional state on phasic pupillary response The whether we could replicate previous results found with the same analysis performed on the phasic response revealed a
Summary
Mind wandering (MW) is a pervasive phenomenon that occurs very frequently, regardless of the task. Others have reported the exact opposite—namely, a larger tonic pupillary diameter during MW than during on-task states (e.g., Franklin, Broadway, Mrazek, Smallwood, & Schooler, 2013; Smallwood et al, 2012; Smallwood et al, 2011) These opposing results for the tonic diameter of the pupil might be— partially—attributable to differences in experimental designs between these studies (e.g., task demands, experiencesampling methods, etc.), but they might be related to what these studies have in common, namely a content-based definition of MW
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