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What is mind blanking: A conceptual clarification.

¹Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.

The European Journal of Neuroscience

|July 28, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

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Mind blanking research is often ambiguous, blending the absence of thought with a complete lack of conscious experience. Current studies likely assess only the absence of thought, not a total lack of consciousness.

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Mind blanking is a recent area of study within mind wandering research.
Existing definitions and experimental assessments of mind blanking are often ambiguous.
The term 'mind blanking' has been used to describe both the absence of task-focus/thought and a complete lack of conscious experience.

Purpose of the Study:

To clarify the distinct phenomena encompassed by the term 'mind blanking'.
To differentiate between the absence of thought and a complete lack of conscious experience.
To evaluate the current experimental assessment methods for mind blanking.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on mind blanking and mind wandering.
Conceptual analysis of William James's writings on 'thought'.

Keywords:

attention awareness consciousness experience sampling mind blanking mind wandering

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Critique of experimental studies using experience sampling techniques.

Main Results:

Two distinct phenomena are conflated under the term 'mind blanking': absence of task-focus/thought and complete lack of conscious experience.
Experience sampling studies likely assess the absence of thought, not a complete lack of conscious experience.
There is currently no clear evidence for a complete lack of conscious experience in non-pathological waking states.

Conclusions:

The term 'mind blanking' requires conceptual refinement to distinguish between different subjective experiences.
Future research may identify complete lack of conscious experience using more precise experience sampling methods.
Clarifying these distinctions is crucial for advancing mind wandering research.