The troubling science of neurophenomenology

How Do You Know If You Were Mind Wandering? Dissociating Explicit Memories of Off Task Thought From Subjective Feelings of Inattention

Mind wandering is a common experience in which your attention drifts away from the task at hand and toward task-unrelated thoughts. To measure mind wandering we typically use experience sampling and retrospective self-reports, which require participants to make metacognitive judgments about their immediately preceding attentional states. In the current study, we aimed to better understand how people come to make such judgments by introducing a novel distinction between explicit memories of off task thought and subjective feelings of inattention. Across two preregistered experiments, we found that participants often indicated they were "off task" and yet had no memory of the content of their thoughts-though, they were less common than remembered experiences. Critically, remembered experiences of mind wandering and subjective feelings of inattention differed in their behavioral correlates. In Experiment 1, we found that only the frequency of remembered mind wandering varied with task demands. In contrast, only subjective feelings of inattention were associated with poor performance (Experiments 1 and 2) and individual differences in executive functioning (Experiment 2). These results suggest that the phenomenology of mind wandering may differ depending on how the experiences are brought about (e.g., executive functioning errors versus excess attentional resources), and provide preliminary evidence of the importance of measuring subjective feelings of inattention when assessing mind wandering.

Response uncertainty influences response bias in the sustained attention to response task: a signal detection theory perspective

In the current investigation, we modified the high Go, low No-Go Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) by replacing the single response on Go trials with a dual response to increase response uncertainty. In three experiments, a total of 80 participants completed either the original SART with no response uncertainty regarding the Go stimuli, or versions of the dual response SART in which response probabilities for the two possible responses to the Go stimuli varied from 0.9-0.1, 0.7-0.3, to 0.5-0.5. This resulted in a scale of increasing response uncertainty based on information theory to the Go stimuli. The probability of No-Go withhold stimuli was kept.11 in all experiments. Using the Signal Detection Theory perspective proposed by Bedi et al. (Psychological Research: 1-10, 2022), we predicted that increasing response uncertainty would result in a conservative response bias shift, noted by decreased errors of commission and slower response times to both Go and No-Go stimuli. These predictions were verified. The errors of commission in the SART may not be a measures of conscious awareness per se, but instead indicative of the level of participant trigger happiness-the willingness to respond quickly.

A Nomothetic Span Approach to the Construct Validation of Sustained Attention Consistency: Re-Analyzing Two Latent-Variable Studies of Performance Variability and Mind-Wandering Self-Reports

The ability to sustain attention consistency is frequently assessed using either objective behavioral measures, such as reaction time (RT) variability, or subjective self-report measures, such as rates of task-unrelated thought (TUT). The current studies examined whether the individual-difference covariation in these measures provides a more construct valid assessment of attention consistency than does either alone. We argue that performance and self-report measures mutually validate each other; each measurement approach has its own sources of error, so their shared variance should best reflect the attention consistency construct. We reanalyzed two latent-variable studies where RT variability and TUTs were measured in multiple tasks (Kane et al. in J Exp Psychol Gen 145:1017-1048, 2016; Unsworth et al. in J Exp Psychol Gen 150:1303-1331, 2021), along with several nomological network constructs to test the convergent and discriminant validity of a general attention consistency factor. Confirmatory factor analyses assessing bifactor (preregistered) and hierarchical (non-preregistered) models suggested that attention consistency can be modeled as the shared variance among objective and subjective measures. This attention consistency factor was related to working memory capacity, attention (interference) control, processing speed, state motivation and alertness, and self-reported cognitive failures and positive schizotypy. Although bifactor models of general attention consistency provide the most compelling construct validity evidence for a specific ability to sustain attention, multiverse analyses of outlier decisions suggested they are less robust than hierarchical models. The results provide evidence for the general ability to sustain attention consistency and suggestions for improving its measurement.

Task-related and task-unrelated thoughts in runners and equestrians: Measurement issues in evaluations of thought content

Much of the thought content and mind-wandering literature examines self-reported thought content's relationship with performance criteria in limited ways. Furthermore, retrospective reports about thought content may be influenced by the quality of one's performance. We explored these method issues in a cross-sectional study of individuals competing in a trail race and an equestrian event. Our results demonstrated that self-reports of thought content differed based on the performance context: whereas runners' task-related and task-unrelated thoughts were negatively correlated, equestrians' thought content showed no relationship. Moreover, equestrians in general reported fewer task-related and task-unrelated thoughts than runners. Finally, objective performance predicted task-unrelated thought (but not task-related thought) among runners, and an exploratory mediation test suggested the effect was partially mediated by performance awareness. We discuss the applied implications of this research for human performance practitioners.

Go-stimuli probability influences response bias in the sustained attention to response task: a signal detection theory perspective

The sustained attention to response task (SART) is a popular measure in the psychology and neuroscience of attention. The underlying psychological cause for errors, in particular errors of commission, in the SART is actively disputed. Some researchers have suggested task-disengagement due to mind-wandering or mindlessness, and others have proposed strategic choices. In this study we explored an alternative perspective based on Signal Detection Theory, in which the high rate of commission errors in the SART reflects simply a shift in response bias (criterion) due to the high prevalence of Go-stimuli. We randomly assigned 406 participants to one of ten Go-stimuli prevalence rates (50%, 64%, 74%, 78%, 82%, 86%, 90%, 94%, 98% and 100%). As Go-stimuli prevalence increased reaction times to both Go and No-Go stimuli decreased, omission errors decreased and commission errors increased. These all were predicted from a hypothesized bias shift, but the findings were not compatible with some alternative theories of SART performance. These findings may have implications for similar tasks.

Alpha oscillations and stimulus-evoked activity dissociate metacognitive reports of attention, visibility, and confidence in a rapid visual detection task

Variability in the detection and discrimination of weak visual stimuli has been linked to oscillatory neural activity. In particular, the amplitude of activity in the alpha-band (8–12 Hz) has been shown to impact the objective likelihood of stimulus detection, as well as measures of subjective visibility, attention, and decision confidence. Here we investigate how preparatory alpha in a cued pretarget interval influences performance and phenomenology, by recording simultaneous subjective measures of attention and confidence (experiment 1) or attention and visibility (experiment 2) on a trial-by-trial basis in a visual detection task. Across both experiments, alpha amplitude was negatively and linearly correlated with the intensity of subjective attention. In contrast with this linear relationship, we observed a quadratic relationship between the strength of alpha oscillations and subjective ratings of confidence and visibility. We find that this same quadratic relationship links alpha amplitude with the strength of stimulus-evoked responses. Visibility and confidence judgments also corresponded with the strength of evoked responses, but confidence, uniquely, incorporated information about attentional state. As such, our findings reveal distinct psychological and neural correlates of metacognitive judgments of attentional state, stimulus visibility, and decision confidence when these judgments are preceded by a cued target interval.

Mind wandering probes as a source of mind wandering depends on attention control demands

Mind wandering is a topic of great interest in many areas, but as with all psychological constructs, the interpretation of experimental results might depend on the way it is measured. A common way of measuring mind wandering in experiments is with self-report thought probes. An important question with this methodology is if the probe itself may be influencing participants' mind wandering. Previous research suggests that multiple thought probes throughout a task may lead to less mind wandering. However, in some studies (e.g., Schubert et al, 2019) the probes occurred during a recorded lecture video and in the others (e.g., Seli et al, 2016) the probes occurred during a sustained attention to response task (SART). What is missing in the current literature is a comparison of the effect the number of thought probes has on mind wandering during a task that requires a greater deal of thought control throughout the task to perform well, such as a complex span task or working memory. As such, in the two experiments presented here we randomly assigned participants to one of four conditions. Conditions contained a minimum of one and a maximum of six probes. In the first experiment, we found that participants who had received fewer probes mind wandered less during an operation span task, supporting our hypothesis. In the second experiment, we found that participants who had received fewer probes mind wandered more during a video lecture. The results suggest that thought probes interact with attentional control demands to influence mind wandering.

Testing the construct validity of competing measurement approaches to probed mind-wandering reports

Psychology faces a measurement crisis, and mind-wandering research is not immune. The present study explored the construct validity of probed mind-wandering reports (i.e., reports of task-unrelated thought [TUT]) with a combined experimental and individual-differences approach. We examined laboratory data from over 1000 undergraduates at two U.S. institutions, who responded to one of four different thought-probe types across two cognitive tasks. We asked a fundamental measurement question: Do different probe types yield different results, either in terms of average reports (average TUT rates, TUT-report confidence ratings), or in terms of TUT-report associations, such as TUT rate or confidence stability across tasks, or between TUT reports and other consciousness-related constructs (retrospective mind-wandering ratings, executive-control performance, and broad questionnaire trait assessments of distractibility–restlessness and positive-constructive daydreaming)? Our primary analyses compared probes that asked subjects to report on different dimensions of experience: TUT-content probes asked about what they’d been mind-wandering about, TUT-intentionality probes asked about why they were mind-wandering, and TUT-depth probes asked about the extent (on a rating scale) of their mind-wandering. Our secondary analyses compared thought-content probes that did versus didn’t offer an option to report performance-evaluative thoughts. Our findings provide some “good news”—that some mind-wandering findings are robust across probing methods—and some “bad news”—that some findings are not robust across methods and that some commonly used probing methods may not tell us what we think they do. Our results lead us to provisionally recommend content-report probes rather than intentionality- or depth-report probes for most mind-wandering research.

Mind Wandering Influences EEG Signal in Complex Multimodal Environments

The phenomenon of mind wandering (MW), as a family of experiences related to internally directed cognition, heavily influences vigilance evolution. In particular, humans in teleoperations monitoring partially automated fleet before assuming manual control whenever necessary may see their attention drift due to internal sources; as such, it could play an important role in the emergence of out-of-the-loop (OOTL) situations and associated performance problems. To follow, quantify, and mitigate this phenomenon, electroencephalogram (EEG) systems already demonstrated robust results. As MW creates an attentional decoupling, both ERPs and brain oscillations are impacted. However, the factors influencing these markers in complex environments are still not fully understood. In this paper, we specifically addressed the possibility of gradual emergence of attentional decoupling and the differences created by the sensory modality used to convey targets. Eighteen participants were asked to (1) supervise an automated drone performing an obstacle avoidance task (visual task) and (2) respond to infrequent beeps as fast as possible (auditory task). We measured event-related potentials and alpha waves through EEG. We also added a 40-Hz amplitude modulated brown noise to evoke steady-state auditory response (ASSR). Reported MW episodes were categorized between task-related and task-unrelated episodes. We found that N1 ERP component elicited by beeps had lower amplitude during task-unrelated MW, whereas P3 component had higher amplitude during task-related MW, compared with other attentional states. Focusing on parieto-occipital regions, alpha-wave activity was higher during task-unrelated MW compared with others. These results support the decoupling hypothesis for task-unrelated MW but not task-related MW, highlighting possible variations in the "depth" of decoupling depending on MW episodes. Finally, we found no influence of attentional states on ASSR amplitude. We discuss possible reasons explaining why. Results underline both the ability of EEG to track and study MW in laboratory tasks mimicking ecological environments, as well as the complex influence of perceptual decoupling on operators' behavior and, in particular, EEG measures.

Attention need not always apply: Mind wandering impedes explicit but not implicit sequence learning

According to the attentional resources account, mind wandering (or "task-unrelated thought") is thought to compete with a focal task for attentional resources. Here, we tested two key predictions of this account: First, that mind wandering should not interfere with performance on a task that does not require attentional resources; second, that as task requirements become automatized, performance should improve and depth of mind wandering should increase. Here, we used a serial reaction time task with implicit- and explicit-learning groups to test these predictions. Providing novel evidence for the attentional resource account's first prediction, results indicated that depth of mind wandering was negatively associated with learning in the explicit, but not the implicit, group, indicating that mind wandering is associated with impaired explicit, but not implicit, learning. Corroborating the attention resource account's second prediction, we also found that, overall, performance improved while at the same time depth of mind wandering increased. From an implicit-learning perspective, these results are consistent with the claim that explicit learning is impaired under attentional load, but implicit learning is not. Data, analysis code, manuscript preparation code, and pre-print available at osf.io/qzry7/.

Out of the Loop, in Your Bubble: Mind Wandering Is Independent From Automation Reliability, but Influences Task Engagement

This study examined the influence of automation reliability on task-unrelated mind wandering (MW) frequency and the impact of MW on task engagement. Automated environment features make it particularly prone to increase MW frequency. Through mechanisms like complacency or agency, automating a task could increase MW frequency for the operator. For safety-critical industries, the lower perception and degraded stimuli processing associated with MW, summarized by the term "decoupling hypothesis," are particularly concerning. Sixteen participants supervised an autopilot avoiding obstacles with two levels of reliability. Each condition lasted 45 min. We recorded thoughts as either pertaining to being focused, task-related MW or task-unrelated MW. We also recorded perceived mental demand, trust regarding the autopilot and oculometric measures. Based on questionnaire results, our protocol succeeded in inducing more mental demand and lower trust when the automation was unreliable. Attentional states were not correlated, nor did it influence trust in the system reliability. On the contrary, mental demand ratings and pupil diameter were lower during both task-related and task-unrelated MW, compared to those during the focus attentional state. This shows that perceptual decoupling also affects the engagement of operators in automated environments, which may dramatically lower their ability to supervise automation efficiently. This research informs human-automation designers to consider operator engagement when creating automated systems.

Confident failures: Lapses of working memory reveal a metacognitive blind spot

Working memory performance fluctuates dramatically from trial to trial. On many trials, performance is no better than chance. Here, we assessed participants' awareness of working memory failures. We used a whole-report visual working memory task to quantify both trial-by-trial performance and trial-by-trial subjective ratings of inattention to the task. In Experiment 1 (N = 41), participants were probed for task-unrelated thoughts immediately following 20% of trials. In Experiment 2 (N = 30), participants gave a rating of their attentional state following 25% of trials. Finally, in Experiments 3a (N = 44) and 3b (N = 34), participants reported confidence of every response using a simple mouse-click judgment. Attention-state ratings and off-task thoughts predicted the number of items correctly identified on each trial, replicating previous findings that subjective measures of attention state predict working memory performance. However, participants correctly identified failures on only around 28% of failure trials. Across experiments, participants' metacognitive judgments reliably predicted variation in working memory performance but consistently and severely underestimated the extent of failures. Further, individual differences in metacognitive accuracy correlated with overall working memory performance, suggesting that metacognitive monitoring may be key to working memory success.

Positive post-disaster images: A daydream machine?

This study explores the impact of post-earthquake images inserted in a vigilance task, in terms of performance, self-reports of task-focus, and cerebral activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Vigilance tasks present a sequence of stimuli in which only a few are pre-designated critical or target stimuli requiring an overt response from the participant. Seventy-one residents participated (51 women, 20 men) by taking part in a vigilance task with task-irrelevant images inserted in the sequence. There were three conditions consisting positive (emotive inducing), negative (emotive inducing), and control (devoid of meaning) images embedded in the vigilance task to assess possible impacts on vigilance performance. The images were obtained through crowdsourcing and represented parts of the city 3-4 years post-earthquake. Task performance was assessed with signal detection theory metrics of sensitivity A' and bias β''. This enables the separation of an individual's ability to accurately discriminate critical signals from non-critical stimuli (sensitivity) and shifts in their willingness to respond to any stimuli whether critical or not (bias). Individuals viewing the positive images, relating to progress, rebuild, or aesthetic aspects within the city, had a more conservative response bias (they responded less to both rare critical and distractor stimuli) than those in the other conditions. These individuals also reported lower task-focus, as would be expected. However, contrary to expectations, indicators of cerebral activity (fNIRS) did not differ significantly between the experimental groups. These results, when combined, suggest that mind wandering events may be being generated when exposed to positive post-earthquake images.