Title |
Mind-wandering, how do I measure thee with probes? Let me count the ways
|
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Published in |
Behavior Research Methods, June 2017
|
DOI | 10.3758/s13428-017-0891-9 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Yana Weinstein |
Abstract |
In the past decade, a new field has formed to investigate the concept of mind-wandering, or task-unrelated thought. The state of mind-wandering is typically contrasted with being on-task, or paying attention to the task at hand, and is related to decrements in performance on cognitive tasks. The most widely used method for collecting mind-wandering data-the probe-caught method-involves stopping participants during a task and asking them where their attention is directed. In this review, 145 studies from 105 articles published between 2005 and 2015 were classified according to the framing and wording of the thought probe and response options. Five distinct methodologies were identified: neutral (in which counterbalancing was used to equally emphasize on-task and off-task states), dichotomous (say "yes" or "no" to one thought state), dichotomous (choose between two thought states), categorical, and scale. The review identifies at least 69 different methodological variants, catalogues the verbatim probes and response options used in each study, and suggests important considerations for future empirical work. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 4 | 21% |
United Kingdom | 2 | 11% |
Germany | 2 | 11% |
Ireland | 1 | 5% |
Russia | 1 | 5% |
Netherlands | 1 | 5% |
Italy | 1 | 5% |
Unknown | 7 | 37% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 11 | 58% |
Scientists | 7 | 37% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 5% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 222 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 54 | 24% |
Student > Master | 34 | 15% |
Student > Bachelor | 30 | 13% |
Researcher | 19 | 9% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 13 | 6% |
Other | 26 | 12% |
Unknown | 47 | 21% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 109 | 49% |
Neuroscience | 18 | 8% |
Computer Science | 7 | 3% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 5 | 2% |
Social Sciences | 5 | 2% |
Other | 23 | 10% |
Unknown | 56 | 25% |