Absent-mindedness in shops: its incidence, correlates and consequences

Abstract

This paper describes a questionnaire study of absent- mindedness in shops, and an analysis of 166 letters written by 67 individuals who felt themselves to be wrongly accused of shoplifting . A total of 150 men and women were asked how often they had experienced each of 24 varieties of mental lapse while shopping. If they had not actually suffered a particular lapse, they were asked to judge its likelihood of occurrence. Approximately half of the sample also completed the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire ( CFQ ). Lapses carrying the risk of shop-lifting accusations were reported as occurring far less frequently, and were judged as less likely, than either ' embarrassing ' or 'nuisance' lapses. However, an examination of the circumstances leading up to accusations of shoplifting indicated that high risk lapses can occur when ill health, extreme preoccupation and distraction are combined with unwise supermarket practices. A positive and significant correlation was found between the CFQ and the Absent- Mindedness in Shops Questionnaire ( AMSQ ). A factor analysis of the AMSQ revealed a very pervasive general factor, together with a risk appreciation factor. The findings supported the view that responses to both the CFQ and the AMSQ reflected characteristic differences in the management of some superordinate attentional control resource.