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Mind wandering and the attention network system.

Óscar F Gonçalves1, Gabriel Rêgo2, Patrícia Oliveira-Silva3

  • 1Neuropsychophysiology Lab - CIPsi, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; Spaulding Neuromodulation Center, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Center for Health and Biological Sciences, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo, Brazil.

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|November 26, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mind wandering doesn't always disrupt attention. Task-related interference and external distractions impaired performance on the attention network task, but stimulus-independent thoughts did not significantly affect accuracy.

Keywords:
AlertingAttentionConflictExecutive controlMind wanderingOrienting

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Attention and mind wandering are typically viewed as inversely related.
  • However, both processes are complex and may interact differently than assumed.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how different types of thoughts interfere with attention network functioning.
  • To differentiate the impact of task-related vs. task-unrelated thoughts on attention.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the Thought Identification Task (TIT) to categorize thoughts.
  • Assessed interference using the Attention Network System (ANT).
  • Analyzed effects on alerting, orienting, and executive attention components.

Main Results:

  • Task-related interference and external distractions significantly reduced performance accuracy on the ANT.
  • Mind wandering (stimulus-independent, task-unrelated thoughts) did not significantly impair ANT accuracy.
  • No significant links were found between thought types and specific ANT components (alerting, orienting, executive).

Conclusions:

  • The type of "out of task" thought is crucial for understanding its relationship with attention.
  • Mind wandering may be compatible with adequate performance on certain attention tasks.
  • Task-related distractions pose a greater threat to attentional performance than previously assumed.