Mason et al. have published a paper describing the mechanisms underlying wandering minds (Science requires authentication but a prepub version is available on PubMed). Their research methodology used ‘thought sampling’ and brain imaging to demonstrate that

…mind-wandering is associated with activity in a default network of cortical regions that are active when the brain is “at rest.” In addition, individuals’ reports of the tendency of their minds to wander were correlated with activity in this network. (Mason et al , 2007:Abstract)

The research investigates the thesis that ‘mind wandering constitutes a psychological baseline from which people depart when attention is required elsewhere and to which they return when tasks no longer require conscious supervision’ (Klinger, 1971; Smallwood & Schooler ,2006; Mason et al., 2007: 393).

Current research often uses a ‘daydream frequency scale’ (Singer & Abtrobus, 1972) to assess attention, and yet the scale assumes awareness of wandering attention. Mason et al’s paper reminds readers that there is plenty of evidence to suggest that people are often unaware of their minds wandering (Schooler, 2002 and Schooler, Reichle & Halpem, 2004). One conclusion of the paper suggests that mind wandering is therefore one of the default behaviours of the brain and is non-conscious.

The paper is a welcome reminder that rather too much research in psychology (and not least in philosophy) still preserves an illegitimately priveleged place for self-reflexive consciousness.

As an enthusiastic proponent of modelling in the behavioural sciences, I cannot help but wonder how mind wandering will be implemented by robotics in its attempts to avoid re-inventing the wheel on the path to complex behavioural performance.

[A pedantic footnote to the editors of Science: Why did I have to spend half an hour finding the titles of the papers in the bibliography of Mason et al’s article? Your own references include the titles of papers!]

[via Neurofuture’s del.icio.us links]

1. Klinger, E., (1971) Structure and Functions of Fantasy. Wiley: New York
2. Mason, M.F., Norton, M.I., Van Horn, J.D., Wegner, D.M., Grafton, S.T., Macrae, C.N. (2007) “Wandering Minds: The Default Network and Stimulus-Independent Thought”. Science 315 (5810) pp393 - 395 DOI: 10.1126/science.1131295
3. Schooler, J.W., Reichle, E.D., Halpern, D.V. (2004) “Zoning Out while Reading: Evidence for Dissociations between Experience and Metaconsciousness” in Thinking and Seeing: Visual Metacognition in Adults and Children, (D. T. Levin, Ed.), pp. 203–226. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA
4. Singer, J.L. & Antrobus, J.S. (1972) “Daydreaming, Imaginal Processes and Personality: A Normative Study” in The Function and Nature of Imagery, (P. Sheehan, Ed.) pp. 175–202. Academic Press: New York
5. Smallwood, J., Schooler, J.W.,(2006) “The Restless Mind”. Psychol. Bull. 132(6) pp946-958

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