This article reviews the hypothesis that mind wandering can be integrated into executive models of attention. Evidence suggests that mind wandering shares many similarities with traditional notions of executive control. When mind wandering occurs, the executive components of attention appear to shift away from the primary task, leading to failures in task performance and superficial representations of the external environment. One challenge for incorporating mind wandering into standard executive models is that it often occurs in the absence of explicit intention--a hallmark of controlled processing. However, mind wandering, like other goal-related processes, can be engaged without explicit awareness; thus, mind wandering can be seen as a goal-driven process, albeit one that is not directed toward the primary task.

The restless mind

The main goal of this current study is to contribute to the cognitive Information Systems (IS) literature by examining the effect of individuals’ focus ability and mind-wandering in influencing IS task performance at different levels of task complexity. The effects of focus ability and mind-wandering on IS task performance as well as the moderating roles of IS task complexity were examined in a laboratory experiment. The experimental results show that (1) higher task complexity leads to lower IS task performance; (2) under low task complexity, focus ability and mind-wandering do not have any significant effects on task performance; (3) under medium task complexity, focus ability leads to higher performance accuracy, but mind-wandering does not have a significant effect on performance accuracy; (4) under high task complexity, both focus ability and mind-wandering lead to higher performance accuracy. Furthermore, mind-wandering negatively influences performance efficiency under all levels of IS task complexity.

Can You Increase Your Performance in a Technology-Driven Society Full of Distractions? Research-in-Progress

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Can You Increase Your Performance in a Technology-Driven Society Full of Distractions? Research-in-Progress