Does Mood Change During a Mind-Wandering Task?
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| Title: | Does Mood Change During a Mind-Wandering Task? |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Nayda, Diane M. (AUTHOR), Takarangi, Melanie K.T. (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Cognitive Therapy & Research. Jun2026, Vol. 50 Issue 3, p530-544. 15p. |
| Subjects: | Mind-wandering, Affect (Psychology), Attention, Continuous performance test, Cognition |
| Abstract: | Purpose: People in a negative, compared to a positive, mood report they mind-wander more often. This pattern is demonstrated in-lab by inducing participants into a mood state (e.g., positive or negative), then assessing their mind-wandering as they complete a low-demand, repetitive task, such as the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART; Robertson et al. in Neuropsychologia 35:747–758, 1997), used in mind-wandering research. Although inductions successfully alter participants' mood, we do not know whether the induced mood weakens during the task, confounding our understanding of the mood and mind-wandering relationship. Method: To investigate, we ran two studies. Study 1: Participants were induced into a mood state (positive, negative, neutral), then completed two 5-min SART blocks. We measured positive and negative affect pre- and post-induction, and after each SART block. Study 2: We replicated Study 1, excluding the mood induction. Results: In Study 1, during the SART, participants' positive affect decreased in the positive and neutral mood conditions; negative affect decreased in the negative mood condition. In other words, participants' induced mood weakened during the SART. In Study 2, participants' negative affect increased, and positive affect decreased during the SART. Further, decreased positive affect during the first SART block occurred alongside increased mind-wandering (target-errors) in the first, and the second, SART blocks. Conclusions: Participants' induced mood weakened during the SART—positive mood became less positive while negative mood became less negative. Future research comparing the SART with an alternative task may be necessary to understand how task selection influences mood during mind-wandering assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Cognitive Therapy & Research is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: pbh DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection An: 194162054 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Does Mood Change During a Mind-Wandering Task? – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Nayda%2C+Diane+M%2E%22">Nayda, Diane M.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Takarangi%2C+Melanie+K%2ET%2E%22">Takarangi, Melanie K.T.</searchLink> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Cognitive+Therapy+%26+Research%22">Cognitive Therapy & Research</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 50 Issue 3, p530-544. 15p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mind-wandering%22">Mind-wandering</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Affect+%28Psychology%29%22">Affect (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Attention%22">Attention</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Continuous+performance+test%22">Continuous performance test</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognition%22">Cognition</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Purpose: People in a negative, compared to a positive, mood report they mind-wander more often. This pattern is demonstrated in-lab by inducing participants into a mood state (e.g., positive or negative), then assessing their mind-wandering as they complete a low-demand, repetitive task, such as the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART; Robertson et al. in Neuropsychologia 35:747–758, 1997), used in mind-wandering research. Although inductions successfully alter participants' mood, we do not know whether the induced mood weakens during the task, confounding our understanding of the mood and mind-wandering relationship. Method: To investigate, we ran two studies. Study 1: Participants were induced into a mood state (positive, negative, neutral), then completed two 5-min SART blocks. We measured positive and negative affect pre- and post-induction, and after each SART block. Study 2: We replicated Study 1, excluding the mood induction. Results: In Study 1, during the SART, participants' positive affect decreased in the positive and neutral mood conditions; negative affect decreased in the negative mood condition. In other words, participants' induced mood weakened during the SART. In Study 2, participants' negative affect increased, and positive affect decreased during the SART. Further, decreased positive affect during the first SART block occurred alongside increased mind-wandering (target-errors) in the first, and the second, SART blocks. Conclusions: Participants' induced mood weakened during the SART—positive mood became less positive while negative mood became less negative. Future research comparing the SART with an alternative task may be necessary to understand how task selection influences mood during mind-wandering assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Cognitive Therapy & Research is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s10608-025-10626-w Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 15 StartPage: 530 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Mind-wandering Type: general – SubjectFull: Affect (Psychology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Attention Type: general – SubjectFull: Continuous performance test Type: general – SubjectFull: Cognition Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Does Mood Change During a Mind-Wandering Task? Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Nayda, Diane M. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Takarangi, Melanie K.T. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 06 Text: Jun2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 01475916 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 50 – Type: issue Value: 3 Titles: – TitleFull: Cognitive Therapy & Research Type: main |
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