Daniel Smilek
Biographic Data
| ID | 1661058 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Daniel Smilek |
| GIVEN NAMES | Daniel |
| FAMILY NAME | Smilek |
| SIGNATURE | SMILEK D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Waterloo |
| ORCID | 0009-0008-3349-0217 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 45 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 20 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 45 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The costs of monitoring: Does self-catching the wandering mind influence task performance and/or residual probe-caught mind-wandering?
We examined whether continuous self-monitoring for mind-wandering episodes impairs primary-task performance and differentially affects residual probe-caught deliberate versus spontaneous mind-wandering. Participants (N = 117) completed the Metronome Response Task, which requires rhythmic keypresses synchronized with auditory tones. The task was intermittently interrupted by thought probes sampling experiences of deliberate and spontaneous mind-wa…
Attention in our digital ecosystem: The five interactive components that drive media multitasking
Advances in the portability of digital media devices and the sophistication of digital media platforms have dramatically changed how we engage with media content and the degree to which we media multitask in everyday life. While a large body of research on dual-tasking has laid the foundation for our understanding of media multitasking, research has only begun to explore the voluntary and dynamic factors that account for how we simultaneously eng…
Retrospective attention: Examining temporally specific retrospective reports of mind wandering and engagement during online video lectures
Instructor enthusiasm in online lectures: How vocal enthusiasm impacts student engagement, learning, and memory
Across two studies we investigated the impact of instructor enthusiasm on student attentional engagement during an online undergraduate lecture, as well as their memory for lecture content and their motivation to watch additional lecture videos on the same topic (Study 2 only). In both studies participants were randomly assigned to watch a 22-min lecture, delivered with either high or low vocal enthusiasm by the instructor. Subjective ratings of …
Do Rising Opportunity Costs Lead to Increases in Media Multitasking Over Time
Evidence suggests that one’s likelihood of media multitasking increases with time-on-task, which can negatively impact performance. The opportunity costs account of sustained attention might explain this finding. This account states that rising feelings of boredom and effort signal increasing opportunity costs, motivating us to direct our attention elsewhere and causing progressive decreases in performance. We examined whether patterns of media m…
The relations between hyperfocus and similar attentional states, adult ADHD symptoms, and affective dysfunction
The impact of a global pandemic on undergraduate learning experiences: Lifting the restrictions
Examining the effects of caffeine during an auditory attention task
Participants completed two sessions of an auditory attention task and intermittently responded to thought probes asking about their level of mind-wandering. After the first session one group received 200 mg of caffeinated chewing gum (n = 61) and another group received regular (placebo) chewing gum (n = 66). The gum was chewed for 20-minutes and then disposed of before beginning the second session. Participants who received caffeine showed a perf…
Does framing an assignment as involving one or multiple components influence subjective experiences of attentional engagement
The effects of self-selected background music and task difficulty on task engagement and performance in a visual vigilance task
Examining the relation between perfectionism and mind-wandering
The relation between trait flow and engagement, understanding, and grades in undergraduate lectures
BackgroundMuch work has focused on inattention in the classroom, examining how episodes of task-unrelated thought (i.e., mind wandering) and engagement with various forms of media (e.g., media multitasking, smartphone use) influence retention of lecture material. However, considerably less work has examined factors that may positively influence attentiveness in lectures.AimsWe aimed to explore whether the trait-level tendency to experience 'flow'…
The importance of accounting for off-task behaviours during data collection
Re-examining the effect of motivation on intentional and unintentional task-unrelated thought: Accounting for thought constraint produces novel results
Dissociating the freely-moving thought dimension of mind-wandering from the intentionality and task-unrelated thought dimensions
Sustained attention and the experience of flow
Using deliberate mind-wandering to escape negative mood states: Implications for gambling to escape
Background and aims: Slot machines are a pervasive form of gambling in North America. Some gamblers describe entering “the slot machine zone”—a complete immersion into slots play to the exclusion of all else. Methods: We assessed 111 gamblers for mindfulness (using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS)), gambling problems (using the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI)), depressive symptoms (using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scal…
Mind-Wandering Across the Age Gap: Age-Related Differences in Mind-Wandering Are Partially Attributable to Age-Related Differences in Motivation
We consider these results in the context of theories on age-related differences in mind wandering, with a specific focus on their relevance to the recently proposed motivational account of such age-related differences
Mind-Wandering as a Natural Kind: A Family-Resemblances View
Boredom: Under-aroused and restless
How pervasive is mind wandering, really
The role of task difficulty in theoretical accounts of mind wandering
Mindfulness and mind wandering: The protective effects of brief meditation in anxious individuals
What did you have in mind? Examining the content of intentional and unintentional types of mind wandering
On the Necessity of Distinguishing Between Unintentional and Intentional Mind Wandering
In recent years, there has been an enormous increase in the number of studies examining mind wandering. Although participants’ reports of mind wandering are often assumed to largely reflect spontaneous, unintentional thoughts, many researchers’ conceptualizations of mind wandering have left open the possibility that at least some of these reports reflect deliberate, intentional thought. Critically, however, in most investigations on the topic, re…
Cognitive Ethology: A new approach for studying human cognition
We all share a desire to understand and predict human cognition and behaviour as it occurs within complex real-world situations. This target article seeks to open a dialogue with our colleagues regarding this common goal. We begin by identifying the principles of most lab-based investigations and conclude that adhering to them will fail to generate valid theories of human cognition and behaviour in natural settings. We then present an alternative…
Visual search for faces with emotional expressions
The goal of this review is to critically examine contradictory findings in the study of visual search for emotionally expressive faces. Several key issues are addressed: Can emotional faces be processed preattentively and guide attention? What properties of these faces influence search efficiency? Is search moderated by the emotional state of the observer? The authors argue that the evidence is consistent with claims that (a) preattentive search …
Caricature and Contrast in the Upper Palaeolithic: Morphometric Evidence from Cave Art
The earliest known explicit and unambiguous employment of representation in external media is in the form of figurative depictions of large mammals during the Upper Palaeolithic. These images, though often created with evident technical skill and intimate knowledge of the subject matter, are frequently characterised by curious and pronounced distortions. We provide evidence, based on quantitative analysis of parietal graphic images of two commonl…
The relation between trait flow and engagement, understanding, and grades in undergraduate lectures
BackgroundMuch work has focused on inattention in the classroom, examining how episodes of task-unrelated thought (i.e., mind wandering) and engagement with various forms of media (e.g., media multitasking, smartphone use) influence retention of lecture material. However, considerably less work has examined factors that may positively influence attentiveness in lectures.AimsWe aimed to explore whether the trait-level tendency to experience 'flow'…
Absent-mindedness: Lapses of conscious awareness and everyday cognitive failures
Ovals of time: Time-space associations in synaesthesia
Metacognitive errors in change detection: Missing the gap between lab and life
Everyday attention lapses and memory failures: The affective consequences of mindlessness
Metacognition and change detection: Do lab and life really converge
Three responses to Cognitive Ethology
Cognitive Ethology: A new approach for studying human cognition
We all share a desire to understand and predict human cognition and behaviour as it occurs within complex real-world situations. This target article seeks to open a dialogue with our colleagues regarding this common goal. We begin by identifying the principles of most lab-based investigations and conclude that adhering to them will fail to generate valid theories of human cognition and behaviour in natural settings. We then present an alternative…
Visual search for faces with emotional expressions
The goal of this review is to critically examine contradictory findings in the study of visual search for emotionally expressive faces. Several key issues are addressed: Can emotional faces be processed preattentively and guide attention? What properties of these faces influence search efficiency? Is search moderated by the emotional state of the observer? The authors argue that the evidence is consistent with claims that (a) preattentive search …
Absent minds and absent agents: Attention-lapse induced alienation of agency
Caricature and Contrast in the Upper Palaeolithic: Morphometric Evidence from Cave Art
The earliest known explicit and unambiguous employment of representation in external media is in the form of figurative depictions of large mammals during the Upper Palaeolithic. These images, though often created with evident technical skill and intimate knowledge of the subject matter, are frequently characterised by curious and pronounced distortions. We provide evidence, based on quantitative analysis of parietal graphic images of two commonl…
The Unengaged Mind: Defining Boredom in Terms of Attention
Our central goal is to provide a definition of boredom in terms of the underlying mental processes that occur during an instance of boredom. Through the synthesis of psychodynamic, existential, arousal, and cognitive theories of boredom, we argue that boredom is universally conceptualized as “the aversive experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity.” We propose to map this conceptualization onto underlying mental pro…
Attention failures versus misplaced diligence: Separating attention lapses from speed–accuracy trade-offs
Wandering in both mind and body: Individual differences in mind wandering and inattention predict fidgeting.
Anecdotal reports suggest that during periods of inattention or mind wandering, people tend to experience increased fidgeting. In four studies, we examined whether individual differences in the tendency to be inattentive and to mind wander in everyday life are related to the tendency to make spontaneous and involuntary movements (i.e., to fidget). To do so, we developed self-report measures of spontaneous and deliberate mind wandering, as well as…
Performance reactivity in a continuous-performance task: Implications for understanding post-error behavior
On the link between mind wandering and task performance over time
A Resource-Control Account of Sustained Attention: Evidence From Mind-Wandering and Vigilance Paradigms
Staying attentive is challenging enough when carrying out everyday tasks, such as reading or sitting through a lecture, and failures to do so can be frustrating and inconvenient. However, such lapses may even be life threatening, for example, if a pilot fails to monitor an oil-pressure gauge or if a long-haul truck driver fails to notice a car in his or her blind spot. Here, we explore two explanations of sustained-attention lapses. By one accoun…
Reducing the vigilance decrement: The effects of perceptual variability
On the Necessity of Distinguishing Between Unintentional and Intentional Mind Wandering
In recent years, there has been an enormous increase in the number of studies examining mind wandering. Although participants’ reports of mind wandering are often assumed to largely reflect spontaneous, unintentional thoughts, many researchers’ conceptualizations of mind wandering have left open the possibility that at least some of these reports reflect deliberate, intentional thought. Critically, however, in most investigations on the topic, re…
Mind-Wandering With and Without Intention
“You’re on ten, where can you go from there?” Tufnel problems in repeated experiential judgments
Assessing the associations among trait and state levels of deliberate and spontaneous mind wandering
Mindfulness and mind wandering: The protective effects of brief meditation in anxious individuals
What did you have in mind? Examining the content of intentional and unintentional types of mind wandering
Mind-Wandering as a Natural Kind: A Family-Resemblances View
Boredom: Under-aroused and restless
Psychology (44 works) · Cognitive psychology (38 works) · Mind wandering and attention (34 works) · Cognition (32 works) · Mind-wandering (21 works) · Social Psychology (21 works) · Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes (19 works) · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies (19 works) · Neuroscience (19 works) · Computer Science (18 works)