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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Using a Real-Time Locating System to Measure Walking Activity Associated with Wandering Behaviors Among Institutionalized Older Adults

Using a Real-Time Locating System to Measure Walking Activity Associated with Wandering Behaviors Among Institutionalized Older Adults

Published on: February 8, 2019

A wandering mind is an unhappy mind.

Matthew A Killingsworth¹, Daniel T Gilbert

¹Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. mkilling@fas.harvard.edu

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|November 13, 2010

Summary

People frequently think about what is not happening, which often leads to unhappiness. This study used smartphone technology to track daily thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Affective Science
Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

Mind-wandering, or task-unrelated thinking, is a common human experience.
Previous research suggests mind-wandering can have both positive and negative consequences.
Understanding the triggers and affective consequences of mind-wandering is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the prevalence of thinking about what is not happening versus what is happening in daily life.
To examine the emotional impact of engaging in task-unrelated thoughts.
To leverage smartphone technology for real-time sampling of subjective experiences.

Main Methods:

Development of a novel smartphone application for ecological momentary assessment (EMA).

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Last Updated: Jun 6, 2026

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Published on: September 22, 2020

Real-time prompting of participants to report their current thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Analysis of self-reported data to quantify the frequency of task-unrelated thinking and its association with mood.

Main Results:

Participants spent a significant amount of time thinking about events that were not currently happening, nearly as often as thinking about their present activities.
Engaging in task-unrelated thoughts was consistently associated with lower levels of happiness and increased negative affect.
Smartphone-based EMA provided a robust method for capturing spontaneous thought patterns and emotional states.

Conclusions:

A substantial portion of daily thought content involves hypothetical or absent events.
Mind-wandering, particularly when disconnected from present activities, is predominantly linked to diminished subjective well-being.
Future interventions could aim to redirect attention towards present experiences to improve mood.