title: Mind-wandering in younger and older adults: converging evidence from the Sustained Attention to Response Task and reading for comprehension.
abstract: One mechanism that has been hypothesized to contribute to older adults' changes in cognitive performance is goal neglect or impairment in maintaining task set across time. Mind-wandering and task-unrelated thought may underlie these potential age-related changes. The present study investigated age-related changes in mind-wandering in three different versions of the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), along with self-reported mind-wandering during a reading for comprehension task. In the SART, both younger and older adults produced similar levels of faster reaction times before No-Go errors of commission, whereas, older adults produced disproportionate post-error slowing. Subjective self-reports of mind-wandering recorded during the SART and the reading task indicated that older adults were less likely to report mind-wandering than younger adults. Discussion focuses on cognitive and motivational mechanisms that may account for older adults' relatively low levels of reported mind-wandering.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis.
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Balota
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001364:Awareness; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D057566:Self Report; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult