Mind wandering and its relationship with sustained attention and executive functions in preschoolers
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106372
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Summary
This study investigates the relationship between mind wandering (MW), sustained attention, and executive functions in preschoolers aged 4 to 6 years. While MW is well-documented in adults and older children, its interaction with cognitive processes during the critical developmental window before age six remains unclear. The research aims to determine if MW can be reliably self-assessed by young children, how it correlates with attentional and executive metrics, and how it fits into a latent structural model of cognitive organization. The researchers assessed 60 children in a primary cohort and 45 in a secondary reliability cohort. To measure MW, they adapted the Daydream Frequency Scale (DDFS) into a visual, child-friendly questionnaire asking children to self-evaluate their classroom focus. Teachers independently rated the same children using the DDFS and the Mind Wandering Questionnaire (MWQ). Participants also completed neuropsychological tests for sustained attention (Picture Deletion Task, Zazzo cancellation test), processing speed and flexibility (adapted Trail Making Test), and inhibition (adapted Stroop Test, Go/No-Go task). Statistical analyses included Spearman correlations, multilinear regressions controlling for age, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results demonstrated that preschoolers’ self-evaluations of MW strongly correlated with teacher ratings ($r=0.889$) and exhibited high test-retest and inter-rater reliability. MW propensity significantly decreased with age, particularly distinguishing six-year-olds from younger peers. MW scores correlated with performance in sustained attention, processing speed, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition tasks, as well as with anxiety and sleep problems. However, multilinear regression controlling for age revealed that sustained attention and flexibility were the primary predictors of MW, while inhibition effects became non-significant in the global model. SEM indicated that MW is best modeled as a latent factor independent from attention, speed, and inhibition, though it remains highly correlated with attention. The study establishes the feasibility of assessing MW in preschoolers and highlights the central role of attention in this phenomenon. The findings suggest that MW in this age group is linked to the immaturity of attentional control rather than distinct executive failures. This underscores the importance of sustained attention development in early childhood and provides a validated framework for studying cognitive distractions in young learners.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-10 |
| archive | success | openalex | — | — | 5 | 2026-06-25 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-25 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| enrich | success | openalex | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-10 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-20 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-25; verification: verified.
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