Mind wandering is associated with reduced task performance, but it remains unclear whether these performance costs reflect a selective impairment in response inhibition or a more general sensitivity to task demands. The present study addressed this question using a within-person design in which momentary attentional state was linked to task performance across multiple cognitive tasks. Participants (N = 41) completed repeated sessions including the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), a Random Dot Motion task, and a Flanker task, allowing comparison between response inhibition, perceptual task difficulty, and interference-based control. Thought probes were used to assess on-task and off-task states, and trial-level accuracy was analysed using generalized linear mixed-effects models.

Across all tasks, off-task states were associated with lower accuracy. In the SART, accuracy was lower on No-Go than Go trials, confirming the presence of response inhibition demands. However, there was no evidence that the effect of mind wandering differed between trial types, indicating no selective impairment of response inhibition. Similarly, cross-task analyses showed no evidence that the effect of mind wandering differed between executive response inhibition and perceptual task difficulty, or between the SART and the Flanker task.
Together, these findings indicate that mind wandering is associated with a general reduction in task performance rather than a selective impairment of response inhibition. This suggests that mind wandering reflects a state of reduced task engagement that affects performance across different types of cognitive demands.