Window to the wandering mind: Pupillometry of spontaneous thought while reading

Mind-wandering is both pervasive and detrimental to task performance. As such, identifying covert physiological measures that are associated with this off-task state could inform theories of mind-wandering and lead to interventions that improve task focus. Although previous work suggests that pupil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) 2013, Vol.66 (12), p.2289-2294
Main Authors: Franklin, Michael S., Broadway, James M., Mrazek, Michael D., Smallwood, Jonathan, Schooler, Jonathan W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activity levels. Psychomotricity
Adolescent
Algorithms
Attention
Attention - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Comprehension - physiology
Eye Movements
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Language
Male
Mind-wandering
Photic Stimulation
Production and perception of written language
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Pupil - physiology
Pupil dilation
Reaction Time - physiology
Reading
Thinking - physiology
Time Factors
Vigilance. Attention. Sleep
Young Adult
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Summary:Mind-wandering is both pervasive and detrimental to task performance. As such, identifying covert physiological measures that are associated with this off-task state could inform theories of mind-wandering and lead to interventions that improve task focus. Although previous work suggests that pupil dilation (PD) may vary between on- and off-task states, no studies have examined whether PD systematically varies within a subject as they report becoming disengaged from a task-a key step in developing useful mind-wandering prediction algorithms. In the present study, PD was measured while participants advanced through a passage one word at a time. Spontaneous mind-wandering was assessed during reading using standard thought probe methodology. Results revealed higher PD prior to off-task than prior to on-task reading. This newly discovered relationship between momentary fluctuations of attention and PD offers promise for future innovations that use these systematic changes in PD to predict and better control mind-wandering.
ISSN:1747-0218
1747-0226
DOI:10.1080/17470218.2013.858170