Welcome to themindwanders.com your essential go-to source for articles, research and musings on spontaneous, internally generated thought AKA mind-wandering.
Browse the different sections of the websites to access published articles on Experimental Research and Theoretical Reviews and information on the website’s architect: Dr. Jonathan Smallwood. You can also pose your own questions and participate in a short survey of mind-wandering.
In 1890 William James suggested, what remains to this day, a commonly accepted definition of attention: “Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought”. While research in the last century expanded our understanding of how external attention operates, this century has seen a growth in our understanding of how attention bears on spontaneous internally generated thoughts (as exemplified by the experience of mind-wandering or daydreaming).
Please note: papers downloaded from this website should only be used for academic purposes.
