Regulating the stream of thought: A state-trait model of mind-wandering

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jan-Thoralf Rummel, since 2/2016
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 268313294

The phenomenon of one's own thoughts drifting away from one's current activities to task-unrelated thoughts and feelings has been termed mind-wandering. Current theoretical accounts of mind-wandering consider the tendency to engage in task-unrelated thought as a stable personality trait. However, based on the assumption that the engagement in task-unrelated thoughts can also be affected by situational (state) influences, the present research program aims to develop an integrative state-trait model of mind-wandering. Assuming that the engagement in task-unrelated thoughts can be adaptive, we argue that task-unrelated thoughts do not need to be inhibited in general but should be regulated in accordance with situational demands. It might be adaptive and reasonable, for instance, to contemplate personal problems and their solutions while performing an easy task but to inhibit these thoughts when the task at hand becomes more challenging. Accordingly, we aim at showing that meta-cognitive control processes are recruited to adjust task-unrelated thoughts to the situation at hand. Thus, the present research extends prior, merely trait-focused accounts of mind-wandering by postulating a model of goal-directed regulation of mind-wandering according to which the situation-appropriate recruitment of specific cognitive-control processes underlies adjustments of mind-wandering. As a second building block of the present research project, we aim at testing whether internal personal states affect mind-wandering behavior. In line with prominent theories of self-regulation, we assume that especially motivational states, emotional states, as well as the currently available level of self-regulatory strength will affect mind-wandering. A final aim of the present project is to investigate whether mind-wandering can be in fact adaptive, a central assumption of the present account. To this end, we will test experimentally whether the engagement in task-unrelated thoughts increases for individuals when holding an unfulfilled action plan or an unsolved problem. In sum, the overarching aim of the present research project is to develop and test an integrative state-trait model of mind-wandering which should not only account for conflicting empirical results but should also bridge the gap between cognitive models of executive control and recent theories of self-regulation. This approach can thus provide important insights regarding the functional role of task-unrelated thoughts and regarding how mind-wandering relates to self-regulation.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Dr. Christian Dennis Boywitt, until 1/2016