The troubling science of neurophenomenology.

Mind-wandering is thought to involve perceptual decoupling, where attention shifts away from external tasks. The standard method for studying mind-wandering relies on participants reporting their mental state after a behavior, which may not accurately capture real-time awareness. An alternative approach presented a word before a catch trial; after the trial, participants reported awareness of the word, tried to recognize it, and indicated whether they were on- or off-task. Explicit and implicit awareness of the word were independent of self-reported mind-wandering. This contradicts the idea that mind-wandering reports reflect perceptual decoupling. Instead, such reports may be post-hoc explanations for performance errors.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Researchers suggest links between mind-wandering and impaired processing of external task stimuli: mind-wandering results in perceptual decoupling. The primary methodology employed to investigate the effects of mind-wandering requires people to report their conscious state and then predicts prior behavior or neurophysiological responses using the person's self-report. Unfortunately, this method employs reports that occur after the behavior occurs. An alternative methodology employs a word displayed prior to a performance check or catch trial. After the catch trial, participants then report their awareness of the word occurring, attempt to recognize the word, and also report whether they were on- or off-task. We show that participants' explicit and implicit awareness of the pre-catch trial word is independent of self-reports of conscious state. This finding conflicts with the perspective that mind-wandering reports indicate perceptual decoupling. Reports of mind-wandering may alternatively be how people explain behavioral outcomes.