Mind wandering is a state in which an individual’s attention is not fully focused on the task at hand. Mind wandering af-fects performance in many tasks requiring focused attention, including (online) learning. Previous studies have examinedeye tracking and self-report as a method to assess whether a person is mind wandering. Because the first method requiresspecialized technology and the second method may be susceptible to reporting biases, we here examine whether mousetracking can be used to predict mind wandering in tasks involving classical computer interfaces. Assuming that mouse tra-jectories towards a particular response on the screen are continuously updated by time-dependent and temporally-dynamiccognitive processes, as a behavioral methodology, mouse tracking could provide unique insight into a persons thoughts.In our experiment, a total of 183 students completed a mouse-based operation span task, during which their thoughts wereprobed and their mouse movements recorded. Mixed model analysis of the recordings indicated that initiation time andaverage speed can be used as predictors of task-unrelated thoughts. The results show that mouse movements may be ableto provide an objective measure of mind wandering in online tasks.

Mind wandering involves internally focused attention, and isoften conceptualized as the opposite of external attention thatis oriented towards the task at hand. Individuals vary ac-cording to the amount they mind wander as well as with re-gards to the pattern of oscillations between mind wanderingthoughts and externally directed, focused thought. Assumingthat mind wandering is influenced by episodic contents, we ex-plore the proposition that mind wandering frequency is relatedto the manner in which individuals deal with the contents ofepisodic memory, as reflected by a maximizing decision mak-ing style. Based on previous studies measuring cognitive pro-cesses, we assume that mouse trajectories towards a particu-lar response on the screen are continuously updated by time-dependent and temporally-dynamic cognitive processes. Asa behavioral methodology, mouse tracking provides potentialcues to help predict mind wandering. In our experiment, a to-tal of 274 students completed a decision making questionnaire,episodic and associative memory tests (during which mousemovements were recorded) and a working memory task, dur-ing which mind wandering thoughts were assessed. We foundcertain mouse movement characteristics to be significantly pre-dictive of mind wandering. Also, a maximizing decision mak-ing style appeared to be related to a particular type of mindwandering, namely, task-related interference.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether trait differencesin mind wandering can also predict state differences in mindwandering. More specifically, we ask whether dimensions ofdisengagement, improvisation, and navigation of mind wan-dering thoughts in daily life also influence these dimensions ofmind wandering states during performance of a tracing task.Previous findings concerning the relationship between trait andstate mind wandering are inconsistent. Although studies indi-cate a significant relationship between the two, the correlatesof trait mind wandering and state mind wandering are not al-ways the same. Because of this, we expect to shed some lighton these inconsistencies by using a novel measure of mindwandering, which captures essential individual differences inthe nature of the phenomenon. Our results indicate that indi-vidual differences in trait mind wandering significantly predictstate differences in content variation of mind wandering andtask performance, but not in perceptual decoupling or in men-tal navigation. Implications of these findings are discussed.