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Updated: May 3, 2026

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control
Published on: July 5, 2015
On the asymmetric effects of mind-wandering on levels of processing at encoding and retrieval
David R Thomson1, Daniel Smilek, Derek Besner
1Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada, d5thomso@uwaterloo.ca.
Abstract:
The behavioral consequences of off-task thought (mind-wandering) on primary-task performance are now well documented across an increasing range of tasks. In the present study, we investigated the consequences of mind-wandering on the encoding of information into memory in the context of a levels-of-processing framework (Craik & Lockhart, 1972). Mind-wandering was assessed via subjective self-reports in response to thought probes that were presented under both semantic (size judgment) and perceptual (case judgment) encoding instructions. Mind-wandering rates during semantic encoding negatively predicted subsequent recognition memory performance, whereas no such relation was observed during perceptual encoding. We discuss the asymmetric effects of mind-wandering on levels of processing in the context of attentional-resource accounts of mind-wandering.
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