Dispatching the wandering mind? Toward a laboratory method for cuing "spontaneous" off-task thought
Cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists study most phenomena of attention by measuring subjects’ overt responses to discrete environmental stimuli that can be manipulated to test competing theories. The mind-wandering experience, however, cannot be locally instigated by cleverly engineered stimu...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-09-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00570/full |
| _version_ | 1819095087960817664 |
|---|---|
| author | Jennifer C. McVay Michael J. Kane |
| author_facet | Jennifer C. McVay Michael J. Kane |
| author_sort | Jennifer C. McVay |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists study most phenomena of attention by measuring subjects’ overt responses to discrete environmental stimuli that can be manipulated to test competing theories. The mind-wandering experience, however, cannot be locally instigated by cleverly engineered stimuli. Investigators must therefore rely on correlational and observational methods to understand subjects’ flow of thought, which is only occasionally and indirectly monitored. In an effort toward changing this state of affairs, we present four experiments that develop a method for inducing mind-wandering episodes – on demand – in response to task-embedded cues. In an initial laboratory session, subjects described their personal goals and concerns across several life domains (amid some filler questionnaires). In a second session, 48 hours later, subjects completed a go/no-go task in which they responded to the perceptual features of words; unbeknownst to subjects, some stimulus words were presented in triplets to represent the personal concerns they had described in session 1. Thought probes appearing shortly after these personal-goal triplets indicated that, compared to control triplets, priming subjects’ concerns increased mind-wandering rate by about 3 – 4%. We argue that this small effect is, nonetheless, a promising development toward the pursuit of an experimentally informed, theory-driven science of mind wandering. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T23:37:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac84f92991c0424b91b80456b261acec |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T23:37:44Z |
| publishDate | 2013-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac84f92991c0424b91b80456b261acec2022-12-21T18:46:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782013-09-01410.3389/fpsyg.2013.0057058179Dispatching the wandering mind? Toward a laboratory method for cuing "spontaneous" off-task thoughtJennifer C. McVay0Michael J. Kane1University of North Carolina at GreensboroUniversity of North Carolina at GreensboroCognitive psychologists and neuroscientists study most phenomena of attention by measuring subjects’ overt responses to discrete environmental stimuli that can be manipulated to test competing theories. The mind-wandering experience, however, cannot be locally instigated by cleverly engineered stimuli. Investigators must therefore rely on correlational and observational methods to understand subjects’ flow of thought, which is only occasionally and indirectly monitored. In an effort toward changing this state of affairs, we present four experiments that develop a method for inducing mind-wandering episodes – on demand – in response to task-embedded cues. In an initial laboratory session, subjects described their personal goals and concerns across several life domains (amid some filler questionnaires). In a second session, 48 hours later, subjects completed a go/no-go task in which they responded to the perceptual features of words; unbeknownst to subjects, some stimulus words were presented in triplets to represent the personal concerns they had described in session 1. Thought probes appearing shortly after these personal-goal triplets indicated that, compared to control triplets, priming subjects’ concerns increased mind-wandering rate by about 3 – 4%. We argue that this small effect is, nonetheless, a promising development toward the pursuit of an experimentally informed, theory-driven science of mind wandering.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00570/fullAttentionConsciousnessmind wanderinggoal primingcurrent concerns |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer C. McVay Michael J. Kane Dispatching the wandering mind? Toward a laboratory method for cuing "spontaneous" off-task thought Frontiers in Psychology Attention Consciousness mind wandering goal priming current concerns |
| title | Dispatching the wandering mind? Toward a laboratory method for cuing "spontaneous" off-task thought |
| title_full | Dispatching the wandering mind? Toward a laboratory method for cuing "spontaneous" off-task thought |
| title_fullStr | Dispatching the wandering mind? Toward a laboratory method for cuing "spontaneous" off-task thought |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dispatching the wandering mind? Toward a laboratory method for cuing "spontaneous" off-task thought |
| title_short | Dispatching the wandering mind? Toward a laboratory method for cuing "spontaneous" off-task thought |
| title_sort | dispatching the wandering mind toward a laboratory method for cuing quot spontaneous quot off task thought |
| topic | Attention Consciousness mind wandering goal priming current concerns |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00570/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jennifercmcvay dispatchingthewanderingmindtowardalaboratorymethodforcuingquotspontaneousquotofftaskthought AT michaeljkane dispatchingthewanderingmindtowardalaboratorymethodforcuingquotspontaneousquotofftaskthought |