Introspective Access or Retrospective Inference? Mind-Wandering Reports Are Shaped by Performance Feedback

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Mind-wandering is frequently assessed using self-reports after task completion.
• The accuracy of these self-reports may be compromised by performance cues.
• Understanding this potential confound is crucial for reliable experience-sampling methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether performance indicators influence self-reported mind-wandering and confidence in task focus.
• To determine if participants' reports of mind-wandering are affected by manipulated performance feedback.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted with adult participants performing visual metronome response tasks.
• Experiment 1 used sham feedback to manipulate perceived performance.
• Experiment 2 employed a subtle delay in target onset to implicitly alter perceived performance.

Main Results:

• Sham feedback in Experiment 1 led to more mind-wandering reports, irrespective of actual performance.
• A perceived performance decrease in Experiment 2 also increased mind-wandering reports.
• Confidence in on-task reports decreased when performance indicators falsely suggested poor performance.

Conclusions:

• Self-reports of mind-wandering and confidence in one's attentional state are partially confounded by performance monitoring.
• Experience-sampling methodologies relying on self-reports may need to account for performance-related biases.
• Future research should consider objective measures alongside self-reports to assess mind-wandering accurately.