Time contracts and temporal precision declines when the mind wanders

Our perception of time varies considerably from moment to moment but how this variability relates to endogenous fluctuations in attentional states remains poorly understood. Here we tested the hypothesis that perceptual decoupling during mind wandering would distort interval timing. In two studies with different visual interval timing paradigms, we found that mind wandering states were characterized by underestimation of intervals and a decline in temporal discrimination. Further analyses suggested that temporal contraction during mind wandering, but not a decline in temporal discrimination, could be attributed in part to attentional lapses. These results highlight the role of transient fluctuations in attentional states in intra-individual variability in time perception and have implications for the behavioral markers, and costs and benefits, of mind wandering.