In sight, out of mind? Disengagement at encoding gradually reduces recall of location

Abstract

Disengaging from the external world—a phenomenon referred to as mind wandering—is a common experience that has been shown to be associated with detriments in cognitive performance across a large range of tasks. In the current web-based study, we used a continuous delayed estimation paradigm to investigate the impact of task disengagement at encoding on subsequent recall of location. Task disengagement was assessed with thought probes on a dichotomous (off- vs. on-task) and a continuous response scale (from 0% to 100% on-task). This approach allowed us to consider perceptual decoupling in both a dichotomous and a graded manner. In a first study (n = 54), we found a negative relationship between levels of task disengagement at encoding and subsequent recall of location measured in degrees. This finding supports a graded perceptual decoupling process rather than a decoupling that happens in an all-or-none manner. In a second study (n = 104) we replicated this finding. An analysis of 22 participants showing enough off-task trials to fit the data with the standard mixture model, revealed that in this particular subsample, being disengaged from the task at encoding was related to worse long-term memory performance in terms of likelihood to recall, but not in terms of precision with which information is recalled. Overall, the findings suggest a graded nature of task disengagement that covaries with fine-grained differences in subsequent recall of location. Going forwards it will be important to test the validity of continuous measures of mind-wandering.

Registered report (Stage 1 - preprint): Can the pupil old/new effect track the impact of mind-wandering and boredom on recognition memory?

“…Participants will use the left and right arrows on the keyboard to answer the questions. The mind-wandering scale ranges from 0% ("Completely on task") to 100% ("Completely off task"), which was successfully implemented in Brosowsky et al (2021; for a continuous scale of mind-wandering, see also Martarelli & Ovalle-Fresa, 2023).…”

“…This phenomenon is closely intertwined with episodic memory, which is generally defined as the capacity to recollect personally experienced events in subjective space and time (Baddeley, 2001;Tulving, 1993). Notably, mind-wandering can interfere with memory encoding and contribute to subsequent memory retrieval impairment (Martarelli & Ovalle-Fresa, 2023). The central role of attention in the encoding process has been highlighted by experimental research on memory and divided attention, as well as memory and selective attention (Aly & Turk-Browne, 2017).…”

“…With respect to negative consequences, mind-wandering has been linked to impaired cognitive processes, such as vigilance (Schooler et al, 2011;Smallwood & Schooler, 2006), reading comprehension (Reichle et al, 2010;Schooler et al, 2004), cognitive task performance (e.g., slower reaction times; see McVay & Kane, 2012a), or working memory capacity (McVay & Kane, 2009, 2012b. Mind-wandering also interferes with the memory encoding process and has been shown to negatively predict memory performance (Blondé et al, 2022a;Martarelli & Ovalle-Fresa, 2023;Riby et al, 2008;Seibert & Ellis, 1991).…”