Daydreaming style moderates the relation between working memory and mind wandering: Integrating two hypotheses

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Mind wandering is common but its relationship with executive functions is debated.
• The control-failure hypothesis suggests executive processes inhibit mind wandering.
• The global availability hypothesis posits that excess executive resources enable mind wandering.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reconcile competing hypotheses on mind wandering and executive functions.
• To investigate the moderating role of daydreaming style (positive vs. negative).

Main Methods:

• 111 participants reported mind wandering over 4 days via experience sampling.
• Assessed executive functions using the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), symmetry span task (working memory), and Stroop task.
• Analyzed interactions between executive functions and daydreaming style.

Main Results:

• Working memory positively correlated with mind wandering in low negative daydreamers, but negatively in high negative daydreamers.
• Poor Stroop performance predicted increased mind wandering only in low positive daydreamers.
• SART performance did not predict mind wandering, but its relation to daily activity difficulty suggests context matters.

Conclusions:

• Executive resources' impact on mind wandering is influenced by the valence of thought content.
• Daydreaming style significantly moderates the relationship between executive functions and mind wandering.
• The content and context of mind wandering episodes are crucial for understanding its link to executive processes.