The ratio between frontal resting‐state electroencephalography (EEG) theta and beta frequency power (theta/beta ratio, TBR) is negatively related to cognitive control. It is unknown which psychological processes during resting state account for this. Increased theta and reduced beta power are observed during mind wandering (MW), and MW is related to decreased connectivity in the executive control network (ECN) and increased connectivity in the default mode network (DMN). The goal of this study was to test if MW‐related fluctuations in TBR covary with such functional variation in ECN and DMN connectivity and if this functional variation is related to resting‐state TBR. Data were analyzed for 26 participants who performed a 40‐min breath‐counting task and reported the occurrence of MW episodes while EEG was measured and again during magnetic resonance imaging. Frontal TBR was higher during MW than controlled thought and this was marginally related to resting‐state TBR. DMN connectivity was higher and ECN connectivity was lower during MW. Greater ECN connectivity during focus than MW was correlated to lower TBR during focus than MW. These results provide the first evidence of the neural correlates of TBR and its functional dynamics and further establish TBR's usefulness for the study of executive control, in normal and potentially abnormal psychology.

P300 (or P3) is a major positive complex in the human event-related potential, occurring some 300 ms after stimulus onset and long thought to be the cortical correlate of the Orienting Reflex, our automatic attention-grabbing response to a novel stimulus. The Novelty P3 was the third P3 subcomponent discovered (after P3a and P3b) and appeared promising in its sensitivity to stimulus novelty, the defining characteristic of the Orienting Reflex. But some 15 years later it was claimed to be indistinguishable from the previously-discovered P3a. This led to a decline in interest in the field and confused nomenclature, with some studies using “P3a” and “Novelty P3” interchangeably. However, recent similar studies have again reported three subcomponents of the P3. Further, using single-stimulus habituation paradigms, in addition to P3a and P3b, a later decrementing P3 subcomponent has been reported and recently labelled “HabP3” to avoid contention. We report three studies to resolve this chaotic situation, arguing for identification of the late subcomponent following the P3a and P3b as the Novelty P3. Reinstatement of the Novelty P3 as the central index of the Orienting Reflex will have widespread impact in a range of theoretical, practical and clinical areas involving novelty processing and attention.