Wandering minds, wandering mice: Computer mouse tracking as a method to detect mind wandering

Effects of internally directed cognition on smooth pursuit eye movements: A systematic examination of perceptual decoupling

Eye behavior differs between internally and externally directed cognition and thus is indicative of an internal versus external attention focus. Recent work implicated perceptual decoupling (i.e., eye behavior becoming less determined by the sensory environment) as one of the key mechanisms involved in these attention-related eye movement differences. However, it is not yet understood how perceptual decoupling depends on the characteristics of the internal task. Therefore, we systematically examined effects of varying internal task demands on smooth pursuit eye movements. Specifically, we evaluated effects of the internal workload (control vs. low vs. high) and of internal task (arithmetic vs. visuospatial). The results of multilevel modelling showed that effects of perceptual decoupling were stronger for higher workload, and more pronounced for the visuospatial modality. Effects also followed a characteristic time-course relative to internal operations. The findings provide further support of the perceptual decoupling mechanism by showing that it is sensitive to the degree of interference between external and internal information.

AttentionMNIST: a mouse-click attention tracking dataset for handwritten numeral and alphabet recognition

Multiple attention-based models that recognize objects via a sequence of glimpses have reported results on handwritten numeral recognition. However, no attention-tracking data for handwritten numeral or alphabet recognition is available. Availability of such data would allow attention-based models to be evaluated in comparison to human performance. We collect mouse-click attention tracking data from 382 participants trying to recognize handwritten numerals and alphabets (upper and lowercase) from images via sequential sampling. Images from benchmark datasets are presented as stimuli. The collected dataset, called AttentionMNIST, consists of a sequence of sample (mouse click) locations, predicted class label(s) at each sampling, and the duration of each sampling. On average, our participants observe only 12.8% of an image for recognition. We propose a baseline model to predict the location and the class(es) a participant will select at the next sampling. When exposed to the same stimuli and experimental conditions as our participants, a highly-cited attention-based reinforcement model falls short of human efficiency.

Dissociating sub-processes of aftereffects of completed intentions and costs to the ongoing task in prospective memory: A mouse-tracking approach

In the present study, we used mouse tracking to investigate two processes underlying prospective memory (PM) retrieval: First, we aimed to explore to what extent spontaneous retrieval of already completed PM intentions is supported by reflexive-associative and discrepancy-plus-search processes. Second, we aimed to disentangle whether costs to an ongoing task during the pursuit of a PM intention are associated with presumably resource-demanding monitoring processes or with a presumably resource-sparing strategic delay of ongoing-task responses. Our third aim was to explore the interaction of processes underlying costs to the ongoing task and processes of spontaneous retrieval. Our analyses replicated response-time patterns from previous studies indicating aftereffects of completed intentions and costs to ongoing-task performance, as well as increased aftereffects while pursuing a PM intention. Notably, based on our mouse-tracking analyses, we argue that aftereffects of completed intentions are best explained by a reflexive initiation of an already completed intention. If the completed intention is not performed in its entirety (i.e., no commission error), the reflexive initiation of the completed intention is followed by a subsequent movement correction that most likely represents a time-consuming response-verification process. Regarding performance costs in the ongoing task, our analyses suggest that actively pursuing a PM intention most likely leads to a strategic delay of ongoing activities. Lastly, we found that pursuing a novel PM task after intention completion exacerbated orienting responses to all deviant stimuli, exacerbated the readiness to initiate the completed intention reflexively, and substantially prolonged the response-verification process following this reflexive intention retrieval.

Revisiting consciousness: Distinguishing between states of conscious focused attention and mind wandering with EEG

Fluctuating between external conscious processing and mind wandering is inherent to the human condition. Past research showed that in tasks requiring sustained attention, mind wandering episodes in which attention is directed internally constrain conscious processing of external stimuli. Conversely, conscious processing of internal stimuli is enhanced during mind wandering. To investigate this, we developed and administered a visuomotor tracking task in which participants were instructed to track the path of a stimulus on a screen with a mouse while responding to rare targets. Prior to reports of mind wandering we found the following: The P3 event-related potential component for targets, indicative of conscious stimulus processing, was attenuated at electrodes Cz and Pz. Moreover, alpha power, indicative of internal mental states, increased globally. Theta power increased along the centroparietal area, and beta decreased along right frontal and right centroparietal areas. Interestingly, trait mind wandering was positively correlated with delta power and gamma power, but negatively correlated with the theta-beta ratio. These results demonstrate that mind wandering is characterized by distinct neural signatures at both a state and trait level.

Straying Off Course: The Negative Impact of Mind Wandering on Fine Motor Movements

The goal of this study was to examine how various degrees of perceptual decoupling during mind wandering affect fine motor control. We hypothesized that while under normal circumstances attention ensures an optimal control strategy that leads to accurate motor performance, during mind wandering the process becomes disrupted. In this study, we conducted a computer-based experiment with a tracking task. During mind wandering, motor movements were more erratic and less variable, indicative of reduced attentiveness to the continuous demands of the external task. Importantly, the deeper the reported mind wandering, the less accurate and less variable were the mouse movements, suggesting that perceptual decoupling may take place in a graded rather than in an all or nothing manner. Greater movement intermittency was associated with higher tracking accuracy, suggesting that more corrective movements toward a moving target were functional to task performance. Moreover, greater variance in velocity was negatively correlated with tracking accuracy. These findings suggest that periods of inattention to the task have a negative impact on fine motor movement control by making behavior unpredictable, providing support for the idea that there is a decoupling of sensory-motor processes during mind wandering.