Abstract
Our minds wander. Sometimes, that’s good – we can ponder scientific questions, practice important conversations, or just plan daily events while we engage in routine or dull tasks. Sometimes, thought, that’s bad – we may worry excessively, reexperience traumatic events repeatedly, or (most relevant to present purposes) simply become distracted by thoughts, images, or fantasies that interfere with our ongoing activities. Such interference is especially likely to become problematic during tasks that are cognitively demanding.
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McVay, J.C., Kane, M.J. (2010). Adrift in the Stream of Thought: The Effects of Mind Wandering on Executive Control and Working Memory Capacity. In: Gruszka, A., Matthews, G., Szymura, B. (eds) Handbook of Individual Differences in Cognition. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1210-7_19
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