The troubling science of neurophenomenology.
Experimental brain research September 1, 2018 James Head, William S Helton 39 citations
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.