Spontaneous metacognitive experiences and involuntary memories in the laboratory

Spontaneous metacognitive experiences, such as déjà vu, are notoriously difficult to study under controlled laboratory conditions. Barzykowski and Moulin (2023) proposed that experimental procedures known to elicit involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs) may also trigger a broader range of spontaneous cognitive phenomena, including déjà vu, tip-of-the-tongue states (TOTs), jamais vu, error detection, and zoning out. In this study, 96 participants completed a low-demand vigilance task commonly used to elicit IAMs. Participants were instructed to press the spacebar whenever they experienced a spontaneous thought or metacognitive state, and subsequently categorized and rated each experience. IAMs were the most frequently reported, followed by déjà vu, with other metacognitive phenomena (jamais vu, TOTs, error detection, and zoning out) occurring less frequently. These findings demonstrate that when attentional demands are low, a diverse range of spontaneous experiences naturally emerges. We discuss both the theoretical relevance and methodological utility of this paradigm for capturing the phenomenology of spontaneous cognition in the lab, and highlight promising directions for future research.