Mind wandering
Task-unrelated thought
Also searched as Task-unrelated thought.
In depth
An emerging construct: task-unrelated thought. Rises when the default mode network is active. Inhibitory on sustained attention — though it is also linked to creative incubation, so it is not purely a defect.
What drives it
Default mode network increases it.
Verbatim: 'Additionally, we observed an increase of activation in the default mode network with repeated exposures, suggestive of increased mind wandering with continuing habituation.' (10.3389/fpsyg.2020.528079). Scope (human observational study): human · task fMRI, repeated visual exposure to computer security warnings vs neutral images · no drug/dose · n not stated in abstract · within-subject repetition design. doi 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.528079
What it drives
It reduces Sustained focus.
Verbatim: 'At baseline, students reported mind-wandering more frequently during class than they multitasked, and mind-wandering was more negatively correlated with classroom focus.' (10.3390/educsci10080201). Scope (human observational study): human · behavioral/self-report, no route/dose · n = 229 completing pre-post · one-group pre-post feasibility study, baseline correlational analysis. doi 10.3390/educsci10080201
Blends that modulate it
Each blend page names this pathway and carries the study behind its claim.
See it on the map
Open the causal map to follow this pathway upstream and downstream, arrow by arrow, each with its study.