Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 13, 2026

Combining Behavior and EEG to Study the Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Episodic Memory
Published on: May 11, 2020
The costs and benefits of mind-wandering: a review
Benjamin W Mooneyham1, Jonathan W Schooler1
1Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences.
Abstract:
Substantial evidence suggests that mind-wandering typically occurs at a significant cost to performance. Mind-wandering-related deficits in performance have been observed in many contexts, most notably reading, tests of sustained attention, and tests of aptitude. Mind-wandering has been shown to negatively impact reading comprehension and model building, impair the ability to withhold automatized responses, and disrupt performance on tests of working memory and intelligence. These empirically identified costs of mind-wandering have led to the suggestion that mind-wandering may represent a pure failure of cognitive control and thus pose little benefit. However, emerging evidence suggests that the role of mind-wandering is not entirely pernicious. Recent studies have shown that mind-wandering may play a crucial role in both autobiographical planning and creative problem solving, thus providing at least two possible adaptive functions of the phenomenon. This article reviews these observed costs and possible functions of mind-wandering and identifies important avenues of future inquiry.
Related Concept Videos
High-Level and Low-Level Awareness
Self-Awareness and Its Effects
Metacognition
Introspection
Subconsciousness and No Awareness
An illustrative example of subconscious processing is its role in problem-solving. Often, individuals...
Altered States of Awareness
The ingestion of substances like stimulants or hallucinogens leads to chemical alterations in the brain that...

