Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5041742 | Consciousness and Cognition | 2017 | 10 Pages |
â¢Priming of performance concerns increases task-related mind wandering.â¢Thought probes can be used to examine the mechanisms underlying stereotype threat.â¢Outcomes support the “Control Failures Ã Concerns” framework of mind wandering.â¢Environmental context can influence both mind-wandering frequency and content.
Two experiments tested the hypothesis that priming of performance-related concerns would (1) increase the frequency of task-related mind-wandering (i.e., task-related interference; TRI) and (2) decrease task performance. In each experiment, sixty female participants completed an operation span task (OSPAN) containing thought content probes. The task was framed as a math task for those in a condition primed for math-related stereotype threat and as a memory task for those in a control condition. In both studies, women whose performance-related concerns were primed via stereotype threat reported more TRI than women in the control. The second experiment used a more challenging OSPAN task and stereotype primed women also had lower math accuracy than controls. These results support the “control failures Ã current concerns” framework of mind-wandering, which posits that the degree to which the environmental context triggers personal concerns influences both mind-wandering frequency and content.