No evidence for the impact of mind wandering on recognition associative task: an on-line preregistered study

Previous examinations of the relationship between mind wandering (MW) during post-encoding periods and subsequent memory consolidation has led to mixed results. This study aimed to investigate how different mental states during a retention interval impact associative and relational memory consolidation. One hundred ninety-seven participants performed an online task where they encoded object-face associations before completing either a low-demand (1-back) or high-demand (3-back) post-encoding task for 15 min. Thought probes assessed mental states (on-task focus, MW related to encoded material, MW involving mental time travel, and mind blanking) during the post-encoding task. Associative memory was tested twice, immediately after encoding and following the retention interval. In the delayed test relational memory was also assessed. The 1-back condition elicited more MW, particularly involving mental time travel, while the 3-back condition increased on-task focus. However, memory performance did not differ between conditions. Moreover, the frequencies of different mental states did not correlate with measures of memory retention. Despite successfully manipulating mental states through cognitive load, we found no evidence that MW or other mental states during brief retention intervals impact memory performances. A non-registered, additional condition where the post-encoding task was replaced by a simple perceptual task was added to control for any potential disruptive effect of working memory on memory consolidation. A pattern of results similar to the 1-back condition was found, with no effect of mind wandering on memory performance. These findings add to a growing body of mixed evidence regarding the link between mind wandering and memory consolidation.