Mind Wandering Flashcards
What is mind wandering? (Schooler et al 2013)
When attention becomes disengaged from the immediate external environment and focused on internal trains of thought
What did the Brains Default mode network find?
It found that during the absence of an external task the brain continued to be active and that the increased activity during rest is localised specific brain regions that seem to be interconnected with each other
How can we measure mind wondering according to WeinStein 2018
Objective/indirect and Subjective/direct
Two examples of indirect observations of mind wandering include..
Reaction time and eye movements
Two examples of direct observations of mind wandering include..
Self caught and probe caught
What is SART?
TheSustained Attention to Response Task(SART) has been widely used in psychological literature as a measure of vigilance (the ability to sustain attention over a prolonged period of time).
What are some key findings with the SART method? (4pts)
Prospective bias in mind wondering as more future thoughts than thoughts about the past
Average rates of mind wondering were not very high but rates are higher when verbal SART is used
Large individual differences in rates and contents
Possibly a stable trait - extreme manifestation maliductive daydreaming
What is maladaptive daydreaming?
Maladaptive daydreaming isa mental health issue where a person daydreams excessively, sometimes for hours at a time.
What did Mcvay et al (2009) find in their research on MW
They found a positive coalition between mine wandering in the lab and everyday life
They also found in both contexts mine wondering was linked to reduced performance ongoing activity
Kane et al. (2017) findings did not replicate Mcvays’s findings because….
In everyday life we have easy habitual ongoing activities and which context with meaningful queues
More participants
Plimpton et al (2015) method:
Participants were stopped 11 times and reported what they were thinking about during a vigilance task (600 slides)
After the task Participants indicated whether the thought was past memory current thoughts or thoughts about the future
What did Plimpton et al. (2015) find?
High rates of MW - 67% were classed as spontaneous and unrelated
Importance of triggers in MW- 82% were triggered by external cues
No evidence for prospective bias in MW-Only 26% reported future thoughts
What did Plimpton et al. (2015) find?
High rates of MW - 67% were classed as spontaneous and unrelated
Importance of triggers in MW- 82% were triggered by external cues
No evidence for prospective bias in MW-Only 26% reported future thoughts
What do you most research on video recorded lecture show
Higher rates of MW and negative effects in learning
Warmest et al…
Used 5000 thought probes on students and found:
Rate of intentional mind wandering was 20% and unintentional was 15%
MW didn’t increase towards the end of the lecture and less MW on Wednesday than Monday and Friday
Intentional MW does…(wammes et al..)
Not predict exam grades and negatively affected quiz scores compared to on task probes
Unintentional MW…
Predicted the exam grade
