Mind Wandering Behind the Wheel

An experiment studied the frequency and correlates of driver mind wandering.Driver mind wandering is associated with risk for crash involvement. The present experiment examined the performance and attentional changes by which this effect might occur.Participants performed a car-following task in a high-fidelity driving simulator and were asked to report any time they caught themselves mind wandering. Vehicle control and eye movement data were recorded.As compared with their attentive performance, participants showed few deficits in vehicle control while mind wandering but tended to focus visual attention narrowly on the road ahead.Data suggest that mind wandering can engender a failure to monitor the environment while driving.Results identify behavioral correlates and potential risks of mind wandering that might enable efforts to detect and mitigate driver inattention.