The pause that refreshes: Break-taking occurs when task demands are reduced allowing for replenishing of attentional resources

Abstract

There is a controversy over whether the difficulty (i.e. mental demands) of a task leads to more or less mind wandering, with studies showing apparently conflicting results. Guided by the established association between mind wandering and fidgeting, here we propose a new interpretative model for mind wandering based on Non-Instrumental Movement Inhibition (NIMI), an active effort to suppress embodied natural fluctuations, which would otherwise result in both mental and physical displacements. In a video game-based experiment, break-taking (during level changes) functioned as a trigger for people to suspend NIMI, detectable as fidgeting. They suspended NIMI to transiently replenish depleted mental resources, which allowed mental arousal, detectable as postural uplift. We conclude that task persistence (beside difficulty level) creates a substrate (a latent state with depleted mental resources) encouraging mind wandering to temporarily replenish mental resources to re-control attention.