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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Published on: July 5, 2015

Examining the association between vigilance and mind wandering.

Brooke Schwartzman¹, Anthony P Zanesco², Ekaterina Denkova¹

¹Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States.

Frontiers in Cognition

|June 24, 2026

Summary

Mind wandering, or task-unrelated thought, increases with time-on-task, leading to performance declines in sustained attention tasks. Higher motivation and interest can mitigate these effects, even in shorter tasks.

Keywords:

growth curve modeling mind wandering sustained attention time-on-task vigilance decrement

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The Rodent Psychomotor Vigilance Test (rPVT): A Method for Assessing Neurobehavioral Performance in Rats and Mice

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

The vigilance decrement describes performance decline over time-on-task.
Mind wandering (task-unrelated thought) is increasingly linked to vigilance decrements.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between vigilance decrement and mind wandering in a shorter (10-min) online task for college students.
To explore if task motivation, interest, and difficulty moderate this relationship.

Main Methods:

310 undergraduates completed a 10-min Sustained Attention to Response Task with mind wandering probes.
Bivariate growth curve modeling analyzed within-task changes in performance and mind wandering.
Self-reported motivation, interest, and difficulty were assessed.

Main Results:

Decreased accuracy and increased response time variability correlated with increased mind wandering over time.
Higher motivation and interest reduced the impact of time-on-task on response time variability and mind wandering.

Conclusions:

Mind wandering contributes to vigilance decrements even in shorter tasks.
Task motivation and interest can buffer performance costs associated with mind wandering.