{{Short description|Experience of thoughts not remaining on a single topic for a long period of time}} '''Mind-wandering''' is broadly defined as thoughts that are task-unrelated and stimulus-independent.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Smallwood |first1=Jonathan |last2=Schooler |first2=Jonathan W. |date=2015-01-03 |title=The science of mind wandering: empirically navigating the stream of consciousness |journal=Annual Review of Psychology |volume=66 |pages=487–518 |doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015331 |issn=1545-2085 |pmid=25293689|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mrazek |first1=Michael |last2=Phillips |first2=Dawa |last3=Franklin |first3=Michael |last4=Broadway |first4=James |last5=Schooler |first5=Jonathan |date=2013 |title=Young and restless: validation of the Mind-Wandering Questionnaire (MWQ) reveals disruptive impact of mind-wandering for youth |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=4 |page=560 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00560 |issn=1664-1078 |pmc=3753539 |pmid=23986739 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This can take the form of three different subtypes: positive constructive daydreaming, guilty fear of failure, and poor attentional control.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McMillan |first1=Rebecca |last2=Kaufman |first2=Scott |last3=Singer |first3=Jerome |date=2013 |title=Ode to positive constructive daydreaming |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=4 |page=626 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00626 |issn=1664-1078 |pmc=3779797 |pmid=24065936 |doi-access=free }}</ref> A common understanding of mind-wandering is the experience of thoughts not remaining on a single topic for a long period of time, particularly when people are engaged in an attention-demanding task.<ref name="McVay2.0" />
One context in which mind-wandering often occurs is driving. This is because driving under optimal conditions becomes an almost automatic activity that can require minimal use of the task positive network,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lin|first1=Chin-Teng|last2=Chuang|first2=Chun-Hsiang|last3=Kerick|first3=Scott|last4=Mullen|first4=Tim|last5=Jung|first5=Tzyy-Ping|last6=Ko|first6=Li-Wei|last7=Chen|first7=Shi-An|last8=King|first8=Jung-Tai|last9=McDowell|first9=Kaleb|date=2016-02-17|title=Mind-Wandering Tends to Occur under Low Perceptual Demands during Driving|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=6|issue=1|article-number=21353|doi=10.1038/srep21353|issn=2045-2322|pmc=4808905|pmid=26882993|bibcode=2016NatSR...621353L}}</ref> the brain network that is active when one is engaged in an attention-demanding activity. In situations where vigilance is low, people do not remember what happened in the surrounding environment because they are preoccupied with their thoughts. This is known as the decoupling hypothesis.<ref name="Smallwood2003">{{cite journal | last1 = Smallwood | first1 = J. | last2 = Obonsawin | first2 = M.C. | last3 = Heim | first3 = D. |date=June 2003 | title = Task Unrelated Thought: the role of distributed processing | journal = Consciousness and Cognition | volume = 12 | issue = 2| pages = 169–189 |pmid=12763003 | doi=10.1016/s1053-8100(02)00003-x| s2cid = 7646836 }}</ref>
Studies using event-related potentials (ERPs) have shown that mind-wandering reduces the brain's processing of external information. When thoughts are unrelated to the task at hand, the brain processes both task-relevant and unrelated sensory information in a less detailed manner.<ref name="Smallwood2008">{{cite journal | last1 = Smallwood | first1 = J. | last2 = Beech | first2 = E.M. | last3 = Schooler | first3 = J.W. | last4 = Handy | first4 = T.C. |date=March 2008| title = Going AWOL in the brain – mind wandering reduces cortical analysis of the task environment | journal = Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience | volume = 20 | issue = 3| pages = 458–469 |pmid=18004943 |doi=10.1162/jocn.2008.20037| s2cid = 16925264 }}</ref><ref name="Kam2010">{{cite journal | last1 = Kam | first1 = J.W.Y. | last2 = Dao | first2 = E. | last3 = Farley | first3 = J. | last4 = Fitzpatrick | first4 = K. | last5 = Smallwood | first5 = J. | last6 = Schooler | first6 = J.W. | last7 = Handy | first7 = T.C. |date=February 2011 | title = Slow fluctuations in attentional control of sensory cortex | doi = 10.1162/jocn.2010.21443 | journal = Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience | volume = 23| issue = 2| pages = 460–470 |pmid=20146593 | url = https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/download/pdf/24/1.0071153/1 | hdl = 2429/27539 | s2cid = 7709940 | hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Braboszcz2011">{{cite journal | last1 = Braboszcz | first1 = C. | last2 = Delorme | first2 = A. | year = 2011 | title = Lost in thoughts: neural markers of low alertness during mind wandering | url = https://zenodo.org/record/3905134| journal = NeuroImage | volume = 54 | issue = 4| pages = 3040–7 | doi=10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.10.008 | pmid=20946963| s2cid = 12903932 }}</ref> Mind-wandering appears to be a stable trait of people and a transient state. Studies have linked performance problems in the laboratory<ref name="Smallwood2004">{{cite journal | last1 = Smallwood | first1 = J. | last2 = Davies | first2 = J. B. | last3 = Heim | first3 = D. | last4 = Finnigan | first4 = F. | last5 = Sudberry | first5 = M.V. | last6 = O'Connor | first6 = R.C. | last7 = Obonsawain | first7 = M.C. |date=December 2004 | title = Subjective experience and the attentional lapse. Task engagement and disengagement during sustained attention | journal = Consciousness and Cognition | volume = 13 | issue = 4| pages = 657–690 |pmid=15522626 | doi=10.1016/j.concog.2004.06.003| s2cid = 2514220 }}</ref> and in daily life.<ref name="McVay2009">{{cite journal | last1 = McVay | first1 = J.C. | last2 = Kane | first2 = M.J. | last3 = Kwapil | first3 = T.R. |date=October 2009 | title = Tracking the train of thought from the laboratory into everyday life: an experience-sampling study of mind wandering across controlled and ecological contexts | journal = Psychonomic Bulletin & Review | volume = 16 | issue = 5| pages = 857–63 | doi = 10.3758/PBR.16.5.857 | pmid = 19815789 | pmc=2760023}}</ref> Mind-wandering has been associated with possible car accidents.<ref name="Galera2012">{{cite journal | last1 = Galéra | first1 = C | last2 = Orriols | first2 = L | last3 = M'Bailara | first3 = K | last4 = Laborey | first4 = M | last5 = Contrand | first5 = B | last6 = Ribéreau-Gayon | first6 = R | last7 = Masson | first7 = F | last8 = Bakiri | first8 = S | last9 = Gabaude | first9 = C | last10 = Fort | first10 = A | last11 = Maury | first11 = B | last12 = Lemercier | first12 = C | last13 = Cours | first13 = M | last14 = Bouvard | first14 = MP | last15 = Lagarde | first15 = E |date=13 December 2012 | title = Mind wandering and driving: responsibility case-control study | journal = BMJ | volume = 345 | article-number = e8105 |pmid=23241270 |pmc=3521876 |doi=10.1136/bmj.e8105}}</ref> Mind-wandering is also intimately linked to states of affect. Studies indicate that task-unrelated thoughts are common in people with low or depressed mood.<ref name="Smallwood2009">{{cite journal | last1 = Smallwood | first1 = J. | last2 = Fitzgerald | first2 = A. | last3 = Miles | first3 = L. | last4 = Phillips | first4 = L. |date=April 2009 | title = Shifting moods, wandering minds: negative moods lead the mind to wander | journal = Emotion | volume = 9 | issue = 2| pages = 271–276 |pmid=19348539 | doi=10.1037/a0014855}}</ref><ref name="Smallwood2007">{{cite journal | last1 = Smallwood | first1 = J. | last2 = O'Connor | first2 = R.C. | last3 = Sudberry | first3 = M.V. | last4 = Obonsawin | first4 = M.C. | year = 2007 | title = Mind wandering & Dysphoria | journal = Cognition & Emotion | volume = 21 | issue = 4| pages = 816–842 | doi=10.1080/02699930600911531| s2cid = 17662623 }}</ref> Mind-wandering also occurs when a person is intoxicated via the consumption of alcohol.<ref name="Finnigan2007">{{cite journal | last1 = Finnigan | first1 = F. | last2 = Schulze | first2 = D. | last3 = Smallwood | first3 = J. | year = 2007 | title = Alcohol and the wandering mind – a new direction in the study of attentional lapses | journal = International Journal of Disability and Human Development | volume = 6 | issue = 2| pages = 189–199 | doi=10.1515/ijdhd.2007.6.2.189| s2cid = 25689644 }}</ref>
Studies have demonstrated a prospective bias to spontaneous thought because individuals tend to engage in more future than past related thoughts during mind-wandering.<ref name="Smallwood2009b">{{cite journal | last1 = Smallwood | first1 = J. | last2 = Nind | first2 = L. | last3 = O'Connor | first3 = R.C. |date=March 2009 | title = When is your head at? An exploration of the factors associated with the temporal focus of the wandering mind | journal = Consciousness and Cognition | volume = 18 | issue = 1| pages = 118–125 |pmid=19121953 |doi=10.1016/j.concog.2008.11.004| s2cid = 7498624 }}</ref> The default mode network is thought to be involved in mind-wandering and internally directed thought,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title = The Brain's Default Network|journal = Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |date=1 March 2008 |issn = 1749-6632|pages = 1–38|volume = 1124|issue = 1|doi = 10.1196/annals.1440.011|first1 = Randy L.|last1 = Buckner|first2 = Jessica R.|last2 = Andrews-Hanna|first3 = Daniel L.|last3 = Schacter|pmid=18400922|citeseerx = 10.1.1.689.6903|s2cid = 3167595 }}</ref> although recent work has challenged this assumption.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sormaz|first1=Mladen|last2=Murphy|first2=Charlotte|last3=Wang|first3=Hao-ting|last4=Hymers|first4=Mark|last5=Karapanagiotidis|first5=Theodoros|last6=Poerio|first6=Giulia|last7=Margulies|first7=Daniel S.|last8=Jefferies|first8=Elizabeth|last9=Smallwood|first9=Jonathan|date=2018-08-24|title=Default mode network can support the level of detail in experience during active task states|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=115|issue=37|language=en|pages=9318–9323|doi=10.1073/pnas.1721259115|issn=0027-8424|pmid=30150393|pmc=6140531|bibcode=2018PNAS..115.9318S |doi-access=free}}</ref> Nondirective meditation methods, like Acem Meditation, utilize the spontaneous mind-wandering tendencies of the mind. Therefore, such techniques may be less demanding and more effective than meditation methods that apply concentration.<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Eifring |editor-first=Halvor |title=The Power of the Wandering Mind Nondirective Meditation in Science and Philosophy |publisher=Dyade Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-82-91-406-55 |location=Oslo |language=English}}</ref>
==History== The history of mind-wandering research dates back to 18th century England. British philosophers struggled to determine whether mind-wandering occurred in the mind or if an outside source caused it. In 1921, Varendonck published ''The Psychology of Day-Dreams'', in which he traced his "'trains of thoughts' to identify their origins, most often irrelevant external influences".<ref>{{cite book |last=Varendonck |first=J. |date=1921 |title=The Psychology of Day-Dreams |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=London |oclc=32126893 |url=https://archive.org/details/psychologyofdayd00varerich }}</ref>{{page needed |date=November 2016}} Wallas (1926) considered mind-wandering as an important aspect of his second stage of creative thought – incubation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wallas |first=Graham |date=1926 |title=The Art of Thought |publisher=Johnathon Cape |location=London |oclc=1114115 }}</ref>{{page needed |date=November 2016}} It was not until the 1960s that the first documented studies were conducted on mind-wandering.<ref name="MindWandering2">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Smallwood |first1=Jonathan |last2=Schooler |first2=Jonathan W. |title=Mind-Wandering |pages=574–577 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Social Psychology |volume=2 |date=2007 |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |editor1-first=Roy F. |editor1-last=Baumeister |editor2-first=Kathleen D. |editor2-last=Vohs |oclc=192175326 |isbn=978-1-4129-1670-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQBzAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT724 }}</ref> John Antrobus and Jerome L. Singer developed a questionnaire and discussed the experience of mind-wandering.<ref name="Antrobus1970">{{cite journal | last1 = Antrobus | first1 = J.S. | last2 = Singer | first2 = J.L. | last3 = Goldstein | first3 = S. | last4 = Fortgang | first4 = M. | date =February 1970 | title = Mind-wandering and cognitive structure | journal = Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences | volume = 32 | issue = 2| pages = 242–252 |doi=10.1111/j.2164-0947.1970.tb02056.x | pmid = 5265228 }}</ref>
This questionnaire, known as the Imaginal Processes Inventory (IPI), provides a trait measure of mind-wandering and it assesses the experience on three dimensions: how vivid the person's thoughts are, how many of those thoughts are guilt- or fear-based, and how deep into the thought a person goes. As technology continues to develop, psychologists are starting to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to observe mind-wandering in the brain and reduce psychologists' reliance on verbal reports.<ref name="MindWandering2" />
==Research methods== Jonathan Smallwood and colleagues popularized the study of mind-wandering using thought sampling and questionnaires.<ref name="Smallwood2003"/> Mind-wandering is studied using experience sampling either online or retrospectively. One common paradigm within which to study mind-wandering is the SART (sustained attention to response task).<ref name="Smallwood2004"/> In a SART task there are two categories of words. One of the categories are the target words. In each block of the task a word appears for about 300 ms, there will be a pause and then another word. When a target word appears the participant hits a designated key. About 60% of the time after a target word a thought probe will appear to gauge whether thoughts were on task. If participants were not engaged in the task they were experiencing task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs), signifying mind-wandering.<ref name="McVay2.0" /><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Weiner |editor1-first=Irving B. |editor2-last=Craighead |editor2-first=W. Edward |title=The Corsini encyclopedia of psychology |year=2010 |publisher=John Wiley |location=Hoboken, NJ |isbn=978-0-470-47921-6 |edition=4th |oclc=528701259 }}</ref>{{volume needed|date=November 2016|issue=no}}{{Page needed|date=November 2016}}
Another task to judge TUTs is the experience sampling method (ESM). Participants carry around a personal digital assistant (PDA) that signals several times a day. At the signal a questionnaire is provided. The questionnaire questions vary but can include: (a) whether or not their minds had wandered at the time of the (b) what state of control they had over their thoughts and (c) about the content of their thoughts.<ref name="Kane2007">{{cite journal|last=Kane|first=M. J.|author2=Brown, L. H. |author3=McVay, J. C. |author4=Silvia, P. J. |author5=Myin-Germeys, I. |author6= Kwapil, T. R. |title=For Whom the Mind Wanders, and When: An Experience-Sampling Study of Working Memory and Executive Control in Daily Life|journal=Psychological Science|date=1 July 2007|volume=18|issue=7|pages=614–621|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01948.x|pmid=17614870|s2cid=4640150}}</ref> Questions about context are also asked to measure the level of attention necessary for the task.<ref name="Kane2007" /> One process used was to give participants something to focus on and then at different times ask them what they were thinking about. Those who were not thinking about what was given to them were considered "wandering". Another process was to have participants keep a diary of their mind-wandering. Participants are asked to write a brief description of their mind-wandering and the time in which it happened.<ref name="Unsworth2012">{{cite journal |last1=Unsworth |first1=Nash |last2=McMillan |first2=Brittany D. |last3=Brewer |first3=Gene A. |last4=Spillers |first4=Gregory J. |title=Everyday attention failures: An individual differences investigation |journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition |date=November 2012 |volume=38 |issue=6 |pages=1765–1772 |pmid=22468805 |doi=10.1037/a0028075}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Unsworth|first=Nash|author2=Brewer, Gene A. |author3=Spillers, Gregory J. |title=Variation in cognitive failures: An individual differences investigation of everyday attention and memory failures|journal=Journal of Memory and Language|date=July 2012|volume=67|issue=1|pages=1–16|doi=10.1016/j.jml.2011.12.005|s2cid=14923857 }}</ref> These methodologies are improvements on past methods that were inconclusive.
==Neuroscience== Mind-wandering is important in understanding how the brain produces what William James called the train of thought and the stream of consciousness. This aspect of mind-wandering research is focused on understanding how the brain generates the spontaneous and relatively unconstrained thoughts that are experienced when the mind wanders.<ref name="Mason2007">{{cite journal |last1=Mason |first1=M.F. |last2=Norton |first2=M.I. |last3=Van Horn |first3=J.D. |last4=Wegner |first4=D.M. |last5=Grafton |first5=S.T. |last6=Macrae |first6=C.N. |date=19 January 2007 |title=Wandering minds: the default network and stimulus-independent thought |volume=315 |issue=5810 |pages=393–395 |journal=Science |doi=10.1126/science.1131295 |pmid=17234951 |pmc=1821121 |bibcode=2007Sci...315..393M }}</ref><ref name="Christoff2009">{{cite journal | last1 = Christoff | first1 = K. | last2 = Gordon | first2 = A.M. | last3 = Smallwood | first3 = J. Smith | last4 = Schooler | first4 = J.W. | year = 2009 | title = Experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions to mind wandering | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 106 | issue = 21| pages = 8719–24 | doi=10.1073/pnas.0900234106 | pmid=19433790 | pmc=2689035| bibcode = 2009PNAS..106.8719C | doi-access = free }}</ref> One candidate neural mechanism for generating this aspect of experience is a network of regions in the medial frontal and medial parietal cortex known as the default mode network. This network of regions is highly active even when participants are resting with their eyes closed<ref name="Gusnard2001">{{cite journal | last1 = Gusnard | first1 = D.A. | last2 = Raichle | first2 = M.E. | year = 2001 | title = Searching for a baseline: functional imaging and the resting human brain | journal = Nature Reviews Neuroscience | volume = 2 | issue = 10| pages = 685–694 | doi = 10.1038/35094500 | pmid = 11584306 | s2cid = 18034637 }}</ref> suggesting a role in generating spontaneous internal thoughts.<ref name="Mason2007" /><ref name="Bar2007">{{cite journal | last1 = Bar | first1 = M. |author-link1=Moshe Bar (neuroscientist) | last2 = Aminoff | first2 = E. | last3 = Mason | first3 = M. | last4 = Fenske | first4 = M. | year = 2007 | title = The units of thought | journal = Hippocampus | volume = 17 | issue = 6| pages = 420–428 | doi = 10.1002/hipo.20287 | pmid = 17455334 | s2cid = 2012769 }}</ref> One relatively controversial result is that periods of mind-wandering are associated with increased activation in both the default and executive system<ref name="Christoff2009" /> a result that implies that mind-wandering may often be goal oriented.<ref name="Smallwood2009b" /><ref name="Smallwood2006">{{cite journal | last1 = Smallwood | first1 = J. | last2 = Schooler | first2 = J.W. |date=November 2006 | title = The Restless Mind| journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume = 132 | issue = 6| pages = 946–958 | doi=10.1037/0033-2909.132.6.946 |pmid=17073528 }}</ref><ref name="four conclusions" /><ref name="interference" />
It is commonly assumed that the default mode network is known to be involved during mind-wandering. The default mode network is active when a person is not focused on the outside world and the brain is at wakeful rest because experiences such as mind-wandering and daydreaming are common in this state.<ref name="Smallwood2009b" /> It is also active when the individual is thinking about others, thinking about themselves, remembering the past, and planning for the future;<ref name=":0" /> however, 2010s studies show that signals in the default mode network provide information regarding patterns of detailed experience in active tasks states. This data suggests that the relationship between the default mode network and mind-wandering remains a matter of conjecture.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sormaz |first1=Mladen |last2=Murphy |first2=Charlotte |last3=Wang |first3=Hao-Ting |last4=Hymers |first4=Mark |last5=Karapanagiotidis |first5=Theodoros |last6=Poerio |first6=Giulia |last7=Margulies |first7=Daniel S. |last8=Jefferies |first8=Elizabeth |last9=Smallwood |first9=Jonathan |year=2018 |title=Default mode network can support the level of detail in experience during active task states |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=115 |issue=37 |pages=9318–9323 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.9318S |doi=10.1073/pnas.1721259115 |pmc=6140531 |pmid=30150393 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In addition to neural models, computational models of consciousness based on Bernard Baars' Global Workspace theory<ref name="Baars1988">{{cite book |last=Baars |first=Bernard J. |date=1988 |title=A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness |url=https://archive.org/details/cognitivetheoryo0000baar |url-access=registration |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, England |oclc=16354559 |isbn=978-0-521-30133-6 }}</ref>{{Page needed |date=November 2016}}<ref name="Baars1996">{{cite book |last=Baars |first=Bernard J. |date=1997 |title=In the Theater of Consciousness |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |oclc=34319776 |isbn=978-0-19-510265-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/intheaterofconsc00baar }}</ref>{{Page needed |date=November 2016}} suggest that mind-wandering, or "spontaneous thought" may involve competition between internally and externally generated activities attempting to gain access to a limited capacity central network.<ref name="Dehaene2005">{{cite journal | last1 = Dehaene | first1 = S. | last2 = Changeux | first2 = J.-P. | year = 2005 | title = Ongoing spontaneous activity controls access to consciousness: A neuronal model for inattentional blindness | journal = PLOS Biology | volume = 3 | issue = 5| article-number = e141 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030141 |doi-access=free | pmid = 15819609 | pmc=1074751}}</ref>
==Individual differences==
There are individual differences in some aspects of mind-wandering between older and younger adults.<ref name="Kane2012"/><ref name="young and old">{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Jonathan D. |last2=Balota |first2=David A. |title=Mind-wandering in younger and older adults: Converging evidence from the sustained attention to response task and reading for comprehension |journal=Psychology and Aging |date=March 2012 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=106–119 |pmid=21707183 |pmc=3508668 |doi=10.1037/a0023933}}</ref><ref name=Schooler2007>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Schooler |first1=Jonathan W. |last2=Smallwood |first2=Jonathan |title=Meta-Awareness |pages=562–564 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Social Psychology |volume=2 |date=2007 |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |editor1-first=Roy F. |editor1-last=Baumeister |editor2-first=Kathleen D. |editor2-last=Vohs |oclc=192175326 |isbn=978-1-4129-1670-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQBzAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT712 }}</ref> Although older adults reported less mind-wandering, these older participants showed the same amount of mind-wandering as younger adults. There were also differences in how participants responded to an error. After an error, older adults took longer to return focus back to the task when compared with younger adults. It is possible that older adults reflect more about an error due to conscientiousness.<ref name="young and old" /><ref name="Schooler2007" />
Research has shown that older adults tend to be more conscientious than young adults.<ref name="young and old" /> Personality can also affect mind-wandering.<ref name="Kane2012" /><ref name="young and old" /><ref name="Schooler2007" /> People that are more conscientious are less prone to mind-wandering. Being more conscientious allows people to stay focused on the task better which causes fewer instances of mind-wandering. Differences in mind-wandering between young and older adults may be limited because of this personality difference.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} Mental disorders such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) are linked to mind-wandering. Seli et al. (2015) found that spontaneous mind-wandering, the uncontrolled or unwarranted shifting of attention, is a characteristic of those who have ADHD. However, they note that deliberate mind-wandering, or the purposeful shifting of one's attention to different stimuli, is not a consistent characteristic of having ADHD.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Seli|first1=Paul|last2=Smallwood|first2=Jonathan|last3=Cheyne|first3=James Allan|last4=Smilek|first4=Daniel|date=2015-06-01|title=On the relation of mind wandering and ADHD symptomatology|journal=Psychonomic Bulletin & Review|language=en|volume=22|issue=3|pages=629–636|doi=10.3758/s13423-014-0793-0|pmid=25561417|issn=1531-5320|doi-access=free}}</ref>
Franklin et al. (2016) arrived at similar conclusions; they had college students take multiple psychological evaluations that gauge ADHD symptom strength. Then, they had the students read a portion of a general science textbook. At various times and at random intervals throughout their reading, participants were prompted to answer a question that asked if their attention was either on task, slightly on task, slightly off task, or off task prior to the interruption. In addition, they were asked if they were aware, unaware, or neither aware nor unaware of their thoughts as they read. Lastly, they were tasked to press the space bar if they ever caught themselves mind-wandering. For a week after these assessments, the students answered follow-up questions that also gauged mind-wandering and awareness. This study's results revealed that students with higher ADHD symptomology showed less task-oriented control than those with lower ADHD symptomology. Additionally, those with lower ADHD symptomology were more likely to engage in useful or deliberate mind-wandering and were more aware of their inattention. One of the strengths of this study is that it was performed in both lab and daily-life situations, giving it broad application.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Franklin|first1=Michael S.|last2=Mrazek|first2=Michael D.|last3=Anderson|first3=Craig L.|last4=Johnston|first4=Charlotte|last5=Smallwood|first5=Jonathan|last6=Kingstone|first6=Alan|last7=Schooler|first7=Jonathan W.|date=2016-07-27|title=Tracking Distraction|journal=Journal of Attention Disorders|language=en-US|volume=21|issue=6|pages=475–486|doi=10.1177/1087054714543494|pmid=25085650|hdl=2429/56674 |s2cid=53625201|issn=1087-0547|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
Pasternak Barami and Goldfarb (2025) found a positive correlation between ADHD symptoms and mind wandering even in kindergarten-aged children, with elevated mind wandering at this age predicting poorer performance on arithmetic and phonological tasks independently of ADHD symptom severity, suggesting that mind wandering may be a detectable cognitive marker in early childhood prior to formal diagnosis.<ref>Pasternak Barami, Y., and Goldfarb, L. (2025). The relationship between symptoms of ADHD, mind wandering, and task performance among kindergarten-aged children. ''Behavioral Sciences'', 15(11), 1439.</ref> Mind-wandering in and of itself is not necessarily indicative of attention deficiencies. Studies show that humans typically spend 25-50% of their time thinking about thoughts irrelevant to their current situations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smallwood|first1=Jonathan|last2=Schooler|first2=Jonathan W.|date=2015-01-03|title=The Science of Mind Wandering: Empirically Navigating the Stream of Consciousness|journal=Annual Review of Psychology|volume=66|issue=1|pages=487–518|doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015331|pmid=25293689|issn=0066-4308|url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/103321/1/2014.03.20_Annual_Review_Final_3.docx|doi-access=free}}</ref> In many disorders, it is the regulation of the overall amount of mind-wandering that is disturbed, leading to increased distractibility when performing tasks.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Shaw|first1=G. A.|last2=Giambra|first2=Leonard|date=1993-01-01|title=Task-unrelated thoughts of college students diagnosed as hyperactive in childhood|journal=Developmental Neuropsychology|volume=9|issue=1|pages=17–30|doi=10.1080/87565649309540541|issn=8756-5641}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fassbender|first1=Catherine|last2=Zhang|first2=Hao|last3=Buzy|first3=Wendy M.|last4=Cortes|first4=Carlos R.|last5=Mizuiri|first5=Danielle|last6=Beckett|first6=Laurel|author6-link= Laurel Beckett |last7=Schweitzer|first7=Julie B.|title=A lack of default network suppression is linked to increased distractibility in ADHD|journal=Brain Research|volume=1273|pages=114–128|doi=10.1016/j.brainres.2009.02.070|pmc=4721585|pmid=19281801|year=2009}}</ref> Additionally, the contents of mind-wandering is changed; thoughts can be more negative and past-oriented, particularly unstable or self-centered.<ref>{{Cite journal|author3-link=Isabel Dziobek|last1=Kanske|first1=Philipp|last2=Schulze|first2=Lars|last3=Dziobek|first3=Isabel|last4=Scheibner|first4=Hannah|last5=Roepke|first5=Stefan|last6=Singer|first6=Tania|date=2016-08-30|title=The wandering mind in borderline personality disorder: Instability in self- and other-related thoughts|journal=Psychiatry Research|language=en|volume=242|pages=302–310|doi=10.1016/j.psychres.2016.05.060|pmid=27318635|s2cid=207452574|issn=0165-1781|url=https://zenodo.org/record/999520}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kanske|first1=Philipp|last2=Sharifi|first2=Marjan|last3=Smallwood|first3=Jonathan|last4=Dziobek|first4=Isabel|last5=Singer|first5=Tania|date=2016-09-12|title=Where the Narcissistic Mind Wanders: Increased Self-Related Thoughts Are More Positive and Future Oriented|journal=Journal of Personality Disorders|pages=553–566|doi=10.1521/pedi_2016_30_263|pmid=27617653|issn=0885-579X|volume=31|issue=4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hoffmann|first1=Ferdinand|last2=Banzhaf|first2=Christian|last3=Kanske|first3=Philipp|last4=Bermpohl|first4=Felix|last5=Singer|first5=Tania|date=2016-07-01|title=Where the depressed mind wanders: Self-generated thought patterns as assessed through experience sampling as a state marker of depression|journal=Journal of Affective Disorders|volume=198|pages=127–134|doi=10.1016/j.jad.2016.03.005|issn=1573-2517|pmid=27015160}}</ref> ==Working memory== {{See also|Working memory#Attention}} {{As of|2012|alt=Recent}} research has studied the relationship between mind-wandering and working memory capacity.<ref name=Kane2012>{{cite journal|last=Kane|first=M. J.|author2=McVay, J. C.|title=What Mind Wandering Reveals About Executive-Control Abilities and Failures|journal=Current Directions in Psychological Science|date=1 October 2012|volume=21|issue=5|pages=348–354|doi=10.1177/0963721412454875|s2cid=30402362}}</ref> Working memory capacity represents personal skill to have a good command of individual's mind.{{clarify|date=January 2021}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nc6l9BpNg0EC&q=Engle,+R.+W.,+Kane,+M.+J.+(2004).+Executive+attention,+working+memory+capacity,+and+a+two-factor+theory+of+cognitive+control.+In+Ross,+B.+(Ed.),+The+psychology+of+learning+and+motivation+(pp.+145%E2%80%93199).+New+York,+NY:+Academic+Press.&pg=PA145|title=The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory|date=2004-02-19|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-0-08-052277-7|language=en}}</ref> This relationship{{clarify|date=January 2021}} requires more research to understand how they influence one another. It is possible that mind-wandering causes lower performance on working memory capacity tasks or that lower working memory capacity causes more instances of mind-wandering.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2000-13979-007|title=PsycNET|website=psycnet.apa.org|language=en|access-date=2019-10-06}}</ref>
Only the second of these has actually been proven. Reports{{who|date=January 2021}} of task-unrelated thoughts are less frequent when performing{{who|date=January 2021}} tasks that do not demand continuous use of working memory than tasks which do.<ref name="Smallwood2009b" /> Moreover, individual difference studies{{clarify|date=January 2021}} demonstrate that when tasks are non-demanding, high levels of working memory capacity are associated with more frequent reports of task-unrelated thinking,<ref name="Smallwood 2011 63–77">{{cite journal|last=Smallwood|first=Jonathan|title=Mind-wandering While Reading: Attentional Decoupling, Mindless Reading and the Cascade Model of Inattention|journal=Language and Linguistics Compass|date=February 2011|volume=5|issue=2|pages=63–77|doi=10.1111/j.1749-818X.2010.00263.x}}</ref><ref name="Levinson2011">{{cite journal |author=Levinson, D |author2=Smallwood, J. |author3=Davidson, R.J. | year = 2011 | title = The persistence of thought | journal = Psychological Science | volume = 23| issue = 4 | pages = 375–380 | doi = 10.1177/0956797611431465 | pmid = 22421205 | pmc=3328662}}</ref> especially when it is focused on the future.<ref name="Baird2011">{{cite journal |author=Baird, B |author2=Smallwood, J. |author3=Schooler, J.W. | year = 2011 | title = Back to the future: auto-biographical planning and functionality of mind wandering | journal = Consciousness and Cognition | volume = 20 | issue = 4 | pages = 1604–1611 | doi = 10.1016/j.concog.2011.08.007| pmid = 21917482|s2cid=19268639 }}</ref> By contrast, when performing tasks that demand continuous attention, high levels of working memory capacity are associated with fewer reports of task-unrelated thoughts.<ref name="McVay2009" />
Together these data are consistent with the claim that working memory capacity helps sustain a train of thought whether it is generated in response to a perceptual event or is self-generated by the individual. Therefore, under certain circumstances, the experience of mind-wandering is supported by working memory resources.<ref name="Smallwood2013">{{cite journal | author = Smallwood, J. | year = 2013 | title = Distinguishing how from why the mind wanders: a process occurrence framework for self-generated thought | journal = Psychological Bulletin| volume = 139 | issue = 3 | pages = 519–535 | doi = 10.1037/a0030010 | pmid = 23607430}}</ref> Working memory capacity variation in individuals has been proven to be a good predictor of the natural tendency for mind-wandering to occur during cognitively demanding tasks and various activities in daily life.<ref name="Kane2007" /><ref>{{cite journal|last=Alloway|first=T.P. |author2=S.E. Gathercole |author3=H. Kirkwood |author4=J. Elliott|title=The cognitive and behavioral characteristics of children with low working memory|journal=Child Development|date=Mar–Apr 2009|volume=80|issue=2|pages=606–621|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01282.x|pmid=19467014|hdl=1893/978 |s2cid=14481660 |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Gathercole|first=S.E.|author2=Alloway TP |author3=Kirkwood HJ |author4=Elliott JG |author5=Holmes J |author6=Hilton KA |title=Attentional and executive function behaviours in children with poor working memory|journal=Learning and Individual Differences|year=2008|volume=18|pages=214–223|doi=10.1016/j.lindif.2007.10.003 |issue=2|hdl=1893/785|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Mind-wandering sometimes occurs as a result of saccades, which are the movements of one's eyes to different visual stimuli. In an antisaccade task, for example, subjects with higher working memory capacity scores resisted looking at the flashing visual cue better than participants with lower working memory capacity.<ref name="McVay 2012 529–549">{{cite journal|last=McVay|first=JC|author2=MJ Kane|title=Drifting from slow to "D'oh!": working memory capacity and mind wandering predict extreme reaction times and executive control errors|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition|date=May 2012|volume=38|issue=3|pages=529–549|doi=10.1037/a0025896|pmid=22004270|pmc=3395723}}</ref> Higher working memory capacity is associated with fewer saccades toward environmental cues.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kane|first=MJ|author2=Bleckley MK |author3=Conway AR |author4=Engle RW |title=A controlled-attention view of working-memory capacity|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: General|date=June 2001|volume=130|issue=2|pages=169–183|pmid=11409097|doi=10.1037/0096-3445.130.2.169 |url=http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/M_Kane_Controlled_2001.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Unsworth|first=N|author2=Schrock JC |author3=Engle RW |title=Working memory capacity and the antisaccade task: individual differences in voluntary saccade control|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition|date=November 2004|volume=30|issue=6|pages=1302–21|pmid=15521806|doi=10.1037/0278-7393.30.6.1302|citeseerx=10.1.1.331.840}}</ref>
Mind-wandering has been shown to be related to goal orientation; people with higher working memory capacity keep their goals more accessible than those who have lower working memory capacity, thus allowing these goals to better guide their behavior and keep them on task.<ref name="four conclusions">{{cite journal |last1=Miyake |first1=A. |last2=Friedman |first2=N. P. |title=The Nature and Organization of Individual Differences in Executive Functions: Four General Conclusions |journal=Current Directions in Psychological Science |date=31 January 2012 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=8–14 |pmid=22773897 |pmc=3388901 |doi=10.1177/0963721411429458}}</ref><ref name="McVay 2012 529–549" /><ref name="daily living">{{cite journal |last=Vaughan |first=Leslie |author2=Giovanello, Kelly |title=Executive function in daily life: Age-related influences of executive processes on instrumental activities of daily living. |journal=Psychology and Aging |year=2010 |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=343–355 |doi=10.1037/a0017729 |pmid=20545419 |url=https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/record/uuid:6a82f7bc-3bdd-4968-8b5e-8611176d405b}}</ref> Another study compared differences in speed of processing information between people of different ages.<ref name="interference">{{cite journal |last1=Rodríguez-Villagra |first1=Odir Antonio |last2=Göthe |first2=Katrin |last3=Oberauer |first3=Klaus |last4=Kliegl |first4=Reinhold |title=Working memory capacity in a go/no-go task: Age differences in interference, processing speed, and attentional control |journal=Developmental Psychology |date=September 2013 |volume=49 |issue=9 |pages=1683–1696 |pmid=23231688 |doi=10.1037/a0030883|hdl=10669/83492 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Kane2012" /> The task they used was a go/no go task where participants responded if a white arrow moved in a specific direction but did not respond if the arrow moved in the other direction or was a different color. In this task, children and young adults showed similar speed of processing but older adults were significantly slower. Speed of processing information affects how much information can be processed in working memory.<ref name="interference" /><ref name="Zanto2010">{{cite journal |last1=Zanto |first1=Theodore P. |last2=Toy |first2=Brian |last3=Gazzaley |first3=Adam |author3-link=Adam Gazzaley |title=Delays in neural processing during working memory encoding in normal aging |journal=Neuropsychologia |date=January 2010 |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=13–25 |pmid=19666036 |pmc=2794969 |doi=10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.08.003 }}</ref> People with faster speed of processing can encode information into memory better than people that have slower speed of processing. This can lead to memory of more items because more things can be encoded.
==Retention== Mind-wandering affects retention where working memory capacity is directly related to reading comprehension levels. Participants with lower working memory capacity perform worse on comprehension-based tests.<ref name="Kane2012"/><ref name="Smallwood 2011 63–77"/> When investigating how mind-wandering affects retention of information, experiments are conducted where participants are asked a variety of questions about factual information, or deducible information while reading a detective novel. Participants are also asked about the state of their mind before the questions are asked. Throughout the reading itself, the author provides important cues to identify the villain, known as inference critical episodes (ICEs). The questions are asked randomly and before critical episodes are reached. It was found that episodes of mind-wandering, especially early on in the text led to decreased identification of the villain and worse results on both factual and deducible questions. Therefore, when mind-wandering occurs during reading, the text is not processed well enough to remember key information about the story. Furthermore, both the timing and the frequency of mind-wandering helps determine how much information is retained from the narrative.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smallwood |first1=Jonathan |last2=McSpadden |first2=Merrill |last3=Schooler |first3=Jonathan W. |title=When attention matters: The curious incident of the wandering mind |journal=Memory & Cognition |date=September 2008 |volume=36 |issue=6 |pages=1144–1150 |pmid=18927032 |doi=10.3758/MC.36.6.1144|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Secondary Source">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smallwood |first=J. |title=Mind Wandering and Other Lapses |url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/estcon/mind_wandering_and_other_lapses | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Consciousness |edition=1st |volume=2 |editor-last=Banks |editor-first=William P. |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |oclc=656164369 |url-access=subscription |via=Credo }}</ref>
==Reading comprehension== Reading comprehension must also be investigated in terms of text difficulty. To assess this, researchers provide an easy and hard version of a reading task. During this task, participants are interrupted and asked whether their thoughts at the time of interruption had been related or unrelated to the task. What is found is that mind-wandering has a negative effect on text comprehension in more difficult readings. This supports the executive-resource hypothesis which describes that both task related and task-unrelated thoughts (TUT) compete for executive function resources. Therefore, when the primary task is difficult, little resources are available for mind-wandering, whereas when the task is simple, the possibility for mind-wandering is abundant because it takes little executive control to focus on simple tasks; however, mind-wandering tends to occur more frequently in harder readings as opposed to easier readings. Therefore, it is possible that similar to retention, mind-wandering increases when readers have difficulty constructing a model of the story.<ref name="Secondary Source" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Feng |first1=S. |last2=D'Mello |first2=S. |last3=Graesser |first3=A.C. |title=Mind wandering while reading easy and difficult texts |journal=Psychonomic Bulletin & Review |date=June 2013 |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=586–592 |pmid=23288660 |doi=10.3758/s13423-012-0367-y |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==Happiness==
As part of his doctoral research at Harvard University, Matthew Killingsworth used an iPhone app that captured a user's feelings in real time.<ref>{{cite web |title=About us |website=Track Your Happiness |url=https://www.trackyourhappiness.org/about |access-date=3 November 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Jeremy |last=Hsu |date=11 November 2010 |title=Mind Wandering May Lead to a Bad Mood |website=LiveScience |publisher=Purch |url=http://www.livescience.com/8923-mind-wandering-lead-bad-mood.html }}</ref> The tool alerts the user at random times and asks: "How are you feeling right now?" and "What are you doing right now?"<ref name=KillingsworthGilbert2010>{{cite journal | author1 = Matthew A. Killingsworth | author2 = Daniel T. Gilbert | name-list-style = amp | year = 2010 | title = A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind | journal = Science | volume = 330 | issue = 932 | page = 932 | doi = 10.1126/science.1192439 | url = http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~dtg/KILLINGSWORTH%20&%20GILBERT%20%282010%29.pdf | pmid = 21071660 | bibcode = 2010Sci...330..932K | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150504082805/http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~dtg/KILLINGSWORTH%20%26%20GILBERT%20%282010%29.pdf | archive-date = 2015-05-04 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.453.1579 | s2cid = 24060648 }}</ref> Killingsworth and Gilbert's analysis suggested that mind-wandering was much more typical in daily activities than in laboratory settings. They also describe that people were less happy when their minds were wandering than when they were otherwise occupied. This effect was somewhat counteracted by people's tendency to mind-wander to happy topics, but unhappy mind-wandering was more likely to be rated as more unpleasant than other activities. The authors note that unhappy moods can also cause mind-wandering, but the time-lags between mind-wandering and mood suggests that mind-wandering itself can also lead to negative moods.<ref name="KillingsworthGilbert2010" /> Furthermore, research suggests that regardless of working memory capacity, subjects participating in mind-wandering experiments report more mind-wandering when bored, stressed, or unhappy.<ref name="Kane2007" /><ref name="Secondary Source" />
==Executive functions== Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive processes that make a person pay attention or concentrate on a task.<ref name = Diamond>{{cite journal|last=Diamond|first=Adele|title=Executive Functions|journal=Annual Review of Psychology|date=3 January 2013|volume=64|issue=1|pages=135–168|doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750|pmid=23020641|pmc=4084861}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Barry |first=Danielle |title=Executive Function |pages=592–594 |encyclopedia=The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health |edition=3rd |volume=1 |date=2012 |publisher=Gale |location=Detroit |editor-last=Key |editor-first=Kristin |oclc=783722616 }}</ref> Three executive functions that relate to memory are inhibiting, updating and shifting. Inhibiting controls a person's attention and thoughts when distractions are abundant.<ref name = Diamond /><ref name = Schnitzspahn2013>{{cite journal |last1=Schnitzspahn |first1=Katharina M. |last2=Stahl |first2=Christoph |last3=Zeintl |first3=Melanie |last4=Kaller |first4=Christoph P. |last5=Kliegel |first5=Matthias |title=The role of shifting, updating, and inhibition in prospective memory performance in young and older adults |journal=Developmental Psychology |date=August 2013 |volume=49 |issue=8 |pages=1544–1553 |pmid=23148933 |doi=10.1037/a0030579|citeseerx=10.1.1.714.8040 }}</ref><ref name = Friedman2007>{{cite journal|last=Friedman|first=N. P.|author2=Haberstick, B. C. |author3=Willcutt, E. G. |author4=Miyake, A. |author5=Young, S. E. |author6=Corley, R. P. |author7= Hewitt, J. K. |title=Greater Attention Problems During Childhood Predict Poorer Executive Functioning in Late Adolescence|journal=Psychological Science|date=1 October 2007|volume=18|issue=10|pages=893–900|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01997.x|pmid=17894607|s2cid=14687502}}</ref><ref name = Reference4>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Neuropsychological Assessment in Schools |pages=657–664 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology |volume=2 |date=2004 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |editor-last=Spielberger |editor-first=Charles D. |oclc=249842541 }}</ref> Updating reviews old information and replaces it with new information in the working memory.<ref name = Schnitzspahn2013 /><ref name = Friedman2007 /><ref name = Reference4 /> Shifting controls the ability to go between multiple tasks.<ref name = Schnitzspahn2013 /><ref name = Friedman2007 /><ref name = Reference4 /> All three EFs have a relationship to mind-wandering.<ref name = Reference3>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Executive Functions |page=191 |encyclopedia=The SAGE Glossary of the Social and Behavioral Sciences |date=2009 |publisher=SAGE Reference |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |editor-last=Sullivan |editor-first=Larry E. |oclc=808382009 }}</ref>
Executive functions have roles in attention problems, attention control, thought control, and working memory capacity.<ref name = McVay2.0>{{cite journal |last1=McVay |first1=Jennifer C. |last2=Kane |first2=Michael J. |title=Conducting the train of thought: Working memory capacity, goal neglect, and mind wandering in an executive-control task |journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition |date=January 2009 |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=196–204 |pmid=19210090 |pmc=2750806 |doi=10.1037/a0014104}}</ref><ref name="Kane2007"/><ref name="Kane2012"/><ref name = Schnitzspahn2013 /><ref name = Friedman2007 /><ref name = Reference4 /><ref name = Reference5>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Sala |first1=Sergio Della |last2=Logie |first2=Robert H. |title=Working Memory |pages=819–830 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Human Brain |volume=4 |date=2002 |publisher=Academic Press |location=Amsterdam |editor-last=Ramachandran |editor-first=V.S. |oclc=174981138 }}</ref> Attention problems relate to behavioral problems such as inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity.<ref name = Friedman2007 /><ref name = Reference4 /> These behaviors make staying on task difficult leading to more mind-wandering.<ref name = Friedman2007 /> Higher inhibiting and updating abilities correlates to lower levels of attention problems in adolescence.<ref name = Friedman2007 /><ref name = Reference7>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Attention |pages=120–129 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Gerontology |edition=2nd |volume=1 |date=2007 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |editor-last=Birren |editor-first=James E. |oclc=70178106 }}</ref>
The inhibiting executive function controls attention and thought. The failure of cognitive inhibition is a direct cause of mind-wandering.<ref name="McVay2.0" /><ref name="Kane2007" /><ref name="Schnitzspahn2013" /><ref name="Reference6">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Cooke |first=D. Tighe |title=Executive Functioning |pages=486–487 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Human Development |volume=1 |date=2006 |publisher=SAGE Reference |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |editor-last=Salkind |editor-first=Neil J. |oclc=63525305 }}</ref> Mind-wandering is also connected to working memory capacity (WMC).<ref name="Kane2007" /><ref name="Reference5" /> People with higher WMC mind-wander less on high concentration tasks no matter their boredom levels. People with low WMC are better at staying on task for low concentration tasks, but once the task increases in difficulty they had a hard time keeping their thoughts focused on task.<ref name="Kane2007" />
Updating takes place in the working memory, therefore those with low WMC have a lower updating executive function ability.<ref name="Kane2007" /><ref name="Reference5" /> That means a low performing updating executive function can be an indicator of high mind-wandering.<ref name="Kane2007" /> Working memory relies on executive functions, with mind-wandering as an indicator of their failure.<ref name="Kane2012" /><ref name="Reference5" /> Task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) are empirical behavioral manifestations of mind-wandering in a person.<ref name="McVay2.0" /><ref name="Kane2012" /><ref name="Schooler2007" /> The longer a task is performed the more TUTs reported.<ref name="McVay2.0" /><ref name="Schooler2007" /> Mind-wandering is an indication of an executive control failure that is characterized by TUTs.<ref name="McVay2.0" /><ref name="Kane2012" /><ref name="Schooler2007" /> Metacognition serves to correct the wandering mind, suppressing spontaneous thoughts and bringing attention back to more "worthwhile" tasks.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Kieran|first=C. R. Fox|author2=Kalina Christoff|title=The Cognitive Neuroscience of Metacognition |chapter=Metacognitive Facilitation of Spontaneous Thought Processes: When Metacognition Helps the Wandering Mind Find Its Way |date=2014|pages=293–319|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-45190-4_13|isbn=978-3-642-45189-8|s2cid=13484588 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mind-wandering and metacognition: variation between internal and external thought predicts improved error awareness|url=http://neuroconscience.com/2013/11/08/mind-wandering-and-meta-cognition-variation-between-internal-and-external-thought-predicts-improved-error-awareness/|access-date=9 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602195732/http://neuroconscience.com/2013/11/08/mind-wandering-and-meta-cognition-variation-between-internal-and-external-thought-predicts-improved-error-awareness/|archive-date=2 June 2014}}</ref>
== Fidgeting == Paul Seli and colleagues have shown that spontaneous mind-wandering is associated with increased fidgeting;<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Carriere|first1=Jonathan S. A.|last2=Seli|first2=Paul|last3=Smilek|first3=Daniel|title=Wandering in both mind and body: Individual differences in mind wandering and inattention predict fidgeting.|journal=Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology|language=en|volume=67|issue=1|pages=19–31|doi=10.1037/a0031438|pmid=23458548|year=2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Seli|first1=Paul|last2=Carriere|first2=Jonathan S. A.|last3=Thomson|first3=David R.|last4=Cheyne|first4=James Allan|last5=Martens|first5=Kaylena A. Ehgoetz|last6=Smilek|first6=Daniel|title=Restless mind, restless body.|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition|language=en|volume=40|issue=3|pages=660–668|doi=10.1037/a0035260|pmid=24364721|year=2014}}</ref> by contrast, interest, attention and visual engagement lead to Non-Instrumental Movement Inhibition.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Witchel|first1=Harry J.|last2=Santos|first2=Carlos P.|last3=Ackah|first3=James K.|last4=Westling|first4=Carina E. I.|last5=Chockalingam|first5=Nachiappan|date=2016|title=Non-Instrumental Movement Inhibition (NIMI) Differentially Suppresses Head and Thigh Movements during Screenic Engagement: Dependence on Interaction|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|language=en|volume=7|page=157|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00157|pmid=26941666|pmc=4762992|issn=1664-1078|doi-access=free}}</ref> One possible application for this phenomenon is that detection of non-instrumental movements may be an indicator of attention or boredom in computer aided learning. Traditionally, teachers and students have viewed fidgeting as a sign of diminished attention,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Risko|first=Evan|date=2012|title=Everyday Attention: Variation in Mind Wandering and Memory in a Lecture|journal=Applied Cognitive Psychology|volume=26 | issue = 2 |pages=234–242|doi=10.1002/acp.1814}}</ref> which is summarized by the statement, "Concentration of consciousness, and concentration of movements, diffusion of ideas and diffusion of movements go together."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The psychology of attention|last=Ribot|first=Théodule|date=1890|publisher=Open Court|isbn=978-0-548-11402-5|location=Chicago, IL|oclc=707693480}}</ref> However, James Farley and colleagues have proposed that fidgeting is not only an indicator of spontaneous mind-wandering, but is also a subconscious attempt to increase arousal in order to improve attention and thus reduce mind-wandering.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Farley|first1=James|last2=Risko|first2=Evan|last3=Kingstone|first3=Alan|date=2013|title=Everyday attention and lecture retention: the effects of time, fidgeting, and mind wandering|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|language=en|volume=4|page=619|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00619|pmid=24065933|pmc=3776418|issn=1664-1078|doi-access=free}}</ref>
==See also== * Absent-mindedness * ADHD predominantly inattentive * Default mode network * Highway hypnosis * Human reliability * Hyperfocus (antonym) * Maladaptive daydreaming * Mindstream
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{cite web |url=http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/~oops/ |title=Oops: Discovering the Wandering Mind |publisher=University of Waterloo, Department of Psychology }} * {{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17690541 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104075323/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17690541/ |archive-date=November 4, 2016 |website=NBC News |agency=Associated Press |date=19 March 2007 |title=Science paying attention to not paying attention }} * {{cite web |last=Smallwood |first=Jonathan |url=https://themindwanders.wordpress.com/ |title=The Mind Wanders: A site dedicated to mind-wandering… }} * {{cite web |url=http://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/2014/12/how-much-do-we-think-about-thinking-science-of-meta-awareness-mind-wandering-and-mindfulness/ |title=How much do we think about thinking? Science of Meta-awareness and Mind-wandering. |date=26 December 2014 |publisher= Bridging the Gaps: A Portal for Curious Minds. 2015}}
Category:Attention Category:Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Category:Cognition Category:Consciousness Category:Daydreaming