title: Fluctuating Minds: Spontaneous Psychophysical Variability during Mind-Wandering.
abstract: Mind-wandering is the occasional distraction we experience while performing a cognitive task. It arises without any external precedent, varies over time, and interferes with the processing of sensory information. Here, we asked whether the transition from the on-task state to mind-wandering is a gradual process or an abrupt event. We developed a new experimental approach, based on the continuous, online assessment of individual psychophysical performance. Probe questions were asked whenever response times (RTs) exceeded 2 standard deviations from the participant's average RT. Results showed that mind-wandering reports were generally preceded by slower RTs, as compared to trials preceding on-task reports. Mind-wandering episodes could be reliably predicted from the response time difference between the last and the second-to-last trials. Thus, mind-wandering reports follow an abrupt increase in behavioral variability, lasting between 2.5 and 10 seconds.
authors: Inserm U 1127, F-75013, Paris, France.|Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR S 1127, F-75013, Paris, France.|CNRS, UMR 7225, F-75013, Paris, France.|Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, F-75013, Paris, France.
authors: Rodrigo A
authors: RA
authors: Henríquez
authors: Department of Experimental Psychology, and Brain, Mind, and Behaviour Research Center, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors: Ana B
authors: AB
authors: Chica
authors: Research Center for Social Complexity, Faculty of Government, University of Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile.
authors: Pablo
authors: P
authors: Billeke
authors: Inserm U 1127, F-75013, Paris, France.|Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR S 1127, F-75013, Paris, France.|CNRS, UMR 7225, F-75013, Paris, France.|Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, F-75013, Paris, France.|Department of Psychology, Catholic University Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors: Paolo
authors: P
authors: Bartolomeo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult