Engaging the wandering mind: Exploring the cognitive, neural and applied consequences of boredom.

Saturday, October 17, 2015 10:00 am - 5:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)
sitting boy bored with school work
What is boredom?  Why does the mind wander?  What does boredom look like in the brain?  How can we eliminate boredom in the classroom?

Engaging the Wandering Mind: Exploring the cognitive, neural and applied consequences of boredom.

Schedule

9:30 – 10:00 a.m. Coffee and pastries. Outside room 1502

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.  Discussion Session 1: Defining boredom and mind-wandering.


Wijnand Van Tilburg (King’s College London, UK)

Title: Boredom begs to differ: Differentiating boredom among negative emotions.


John Eastwood  (York University, Canada)                                           

Title: Clarifying the distinction and connection between boredom and mind wandering: A conceptual model.


Andreas Elpidorou (University of Louisville, USA)

Title: Self-regulation and boredom.


11:00 – 12:00  Poster Session – Hallway outside room 1502

12:00 – 1:30 Lunch for Speakers (Room 1507)

1:30 – 3:30   Discussion Session 2: Applied consequences of boredom and mind wandering.


Sidney D’Mello (University of Notre Dame, USA)

Title: Mind wandering and its mitigation during comprehension activities.


Evan Risko (University of Waterloo, Canada)                                      

Title: Mind-wandering in recorded lectures.


Mike Dixon (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Title: Dark flow in the “reel” world: Problem gamblers, mindfulness difficulties, and becoming absorbed during slot machine play.


Dan Smilek (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Title: Mind wandering and performance in live undergraduate lectures.


Mark Fenske (University of Guelph)

Title: What does fidgeting have to do with boredom and attention?


3:30 – 4:00  Coffee and pastries. Outside room 1502

4:00 – 5:00  Discussion Session 3: Neural correlates of boredom and mind wandering.


Kalina Christoff (University of British Columbia, Canada)

Title: The neuroscience of spontaneous thought.


James Danckert (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Title: Is the resting state scan just a measure of boredom?


Claire Zedelius (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA)

Title: States of mind: The signatures of mind wandering and focus.


6:00 pm  Dinner for Invited Speakers at Sole Restaurant (https://www.sole.ca/)