title: Does mind wandering reflect executive function or executive failure? Comment on Smallwood and Schooler (2006) and Watkins (2008).
abstract: In this comment, we contrast different conceptions of mind wandering that were presented in 2 recent theoretical reviews: Smallwood and Schooler (2006) and Watkins (2008). We also introduce a new perspective on the role of executive control in mind wandering by integrating empirical evidence presented in Smallwood and Schooler with 2 theoretical frameworks: Watkins's elaborated control theory and Klinger's (1971, 2009) current concerns theory. In contrast to the Smallwood-Schooler claim that mind wandering recruits executive resources, we argue that mind wandering represents a failure of executive control and that it is dually determined by the presence of automatically generated thoughts in response to environmental and mental cues and the ability of the executive-control system to deal with this interference. We present empirical support for this view from experimental, neuroimaging, and individual-differences research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina.
authors.forename: Jennifer C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: McVay
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kane
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D003243:Consciousness; D003463:Cues; D056344:Executive Function; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008606:Mental Processes; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013850:Thinking