Mind wandering during everyday driving
type: CreativeWork
description: Mind wandering is a common experience but its prevalence and consequences during routine activities such as driving are unclear. This thesis comprises five studies investigating how often drivers’ minds wander, and the relationship between mind wandering and crash risk. The first study was a questionnaire completed by 502 drivers, to explore their experiences of mind wandering including its variation in different driving contexts. All drivers reported mind wandering at least some of the time. Tendency to report mind wandering during driving was positively correlated with trait tendency towards cognitive failure, and negatively correlated with tendency towards mindful attention and awareness. Drivers reported most mind wandering driving their own car on familiar roads. The second study built on the finding that drivers are most likely to report mind wandering on a familiar trip in their own car through an on-road study of drivers’ thoughts. Eleven drivers traveling in their own cars between home and work were periodically asked what they were thinking about, across 110 trips in total, to establish how often drivers report mind wandering on real streets. Drivers reported mind wandering around two thirds of the time, demonstrating that it is a frequent experience on familiar urban roads. Drivers’ thoughts shifted frequently, triggered by what they saw in the environment and by internal concerns unrelated to driving. The first two studies found relatively high likelihood of mind wandering on familiar roads, so the third study investigated links between mind wandering and crash risk by exploring variation in crash patterns on roads close to home and further away. Analysis of crash distance from home, accounting for travel exposure, confirmed a ‘Close to Home Effect’ for road crashes. New Zealand drivers face increased crash risk on familiar roads within 10km of home, suggesting that higher rates of mind wandering close to home may influence crash risk. The Close to Home …
abstract: Mind wandering is a common experience but its prevalence and consequences during routine activities such as driving are unclear. This thesis comprises five studies investigating how often drivers’ minds wander, and the relationship between mind wandering and crash risk. The first study was a questionnaire completed by 502 drivers, to explore their experiences of mind wandering including its variation in different driving contexts. All drivers reported mind wandering at least some of the time. Tendency to report mind wandering during driving was positively correlated with trait tendency towards cognitive failure, and negatively correlated with tendency towards mindful attention and awareness. Drivers reported most mind wandering driving their own car on familiar roads. The second study built on the finding that drivers are most likely to report mind wandering on a familiar trip in their own car through an on-road study of drivers’ thoughts. Eleven drivers traveling in their own cars between home and work were periodically asked what they were thinking about, across 110 trips in total, to establish how often drivers report mind wandering on real streets. Drivers reported mind wandering around two thirds of the time, demonstrating that it is a frequent experience on familiar urban roads. Drivers’ thoughts shifted frequently, triggered by what they saw in the environment and by internal concerns unrelated to driving. The first two studies found relatively high likelihood of mind wandering on familiar roads, so the third study investigated links between mind wandering and crash risk by exploring variation in crash patterns on roads close to home and further away. Analysis of crash distance from home, accounting for travel exposure, confirmed a ‘Close to Home Effect’ for road crashes. New Zealand drivers face increased crash risk on familiar roads within 10km of home, suggesting that higher rates of mind wandering close to home may influence crash risk. The Close to Home …
author: Burdett, Bridget Rose Doran
keywords: Mind wandering, driving, daydreaming, cognition, psychology
license: https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/bab3e31c-caea-4288-9d2e-7a6e57f36272/download
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:57:52Z
provider: University Waikato
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Waikato