New Perspectives on Mind-Wandering

Description

In the last decade, a great variety and volume of scholarly work has appeared on mind-wandering, a mental process involving a vast range of human life, connected with “first-person perspective” and “personhood”, submental thinking, mental autonomy, etc. While different and emerging features that flow into and out of one another (second field, mental travel, visual imagery, inner speech, unspecific memory, autobiographical memory, fantasies, introspection, etc.) and negative and positive approaches seem to describe mind-wandering, we offer an interdisciplinary theoretical and empirically informed and informative overview on mind-wandering studies and methodologies oriented toward the educational field. The aim is to transform and enrich the debate on mind-wandering but also to show how theoretical arguments and research findings could inform the teaching-learning context. This groundbreaking book, moves along three representations of developed scientific knowledge: imaginary lines, circles and spirals. The first section, “The Lines”, develops new lines of inquiry on attention (selective and sustained) and mind-wandering, the influence of age and mind-wandering, embodiment, consciousness and experience and mind-wandering. In the second section, the “Circles”, groups of Chapters on the same topic, methodology (tasks and measurement), intervention (auditory beat stimulation and mindfulness practices) and creativity, recreate a dance of interacting parts in which there are always profitable, decisive and retroactive exchanges between the information that each group or author activates. The last section, “The Spirals”, critically discusses the absence of a unified theoretical perspective, in the pedagogical field, attentive both to the processes of emergence and the interactions between parts.  Prologue Introduction In Search of an Adequate Title Out of the Blue Why Do We Wander and Simultaneously Wonder? Mind Wandering and Distraction Where Does the Mind Travel To? Wandering Inventiveness Mind Wandering Activities Temporary Conclusion References Acknowledgements Contents About the Contributors Chapter 1: Introduction. The Lines, Circles and Zigzag on Mind-Wandering The Lines The Circles Looking for a Structure That Connects: The Zigzag References Chapter 2: How and Why Our Mind Wanders? Introduction Models of Attention Is Attention a Filter? Is Attention a Pool? Is Attention a Set of Cerebral Networks? What Is Attention? Mind-Wandering In Everyday Life Benefits Drawbacks A Halftone State Perceptual Decoupling To Classify Thoughts Temporality and Emotion Intentionality and Consciousness Conclusion References Chapter 3: Mind-Wandering in Adolescents: Evidence, Challenges, and Future Directions The Current State of Empirical Research Mind-Wandering and Cognitive Control Mind-Wandering, Negative Affect, and Psychopathology Challenges and Future Directions Mind-Wandering in Educational Settings Mind-Wandering, Identity Construction, and Adaptive Outcomes Capturing the Complexity of Mind-Wandering Conclusions References Chapter 4: Mind and Body: The Manifestation of Mind Wandering in Bodily Behaviors Introduction On the Costs and Benefits of Mind Wandering Mind Wandering and Bodily Behaviors Sensory-Motor Decoupling Hand Movements Eye Movements Vocal Movements Non-instrumental Movement Facial Features Non-instrumental Behavior as an Exploratory State Computationally Modeling Mind-Wandering and Related Body Movements Conclusion References Chapter 5: Reorganizing One’s World: The Gestalt Psychological Multiple-Field Approach to “Mind-Wandering” Consciousness Does Not Wander; It Differentiates Structurally The View of Divided Consciousness as a Disorder Main Features of the Gestalt Theoretical Approach to “Mind-Wandering” The Concept of the “Total Field” The Formation of a Second Self and Its Associated Environment The Prägnanz Law as the Basis of the Multiple-Field Structure Laws of the Multiple-Field Structure World Without Ego, World with Two Egos The Role of Reality Experience The Role of Tension Systems: Need, Quasi-Need, and Attention Characteristics of the Primary and Secondary Total Field Notes on Applications References Chapter 6: Extended Minds and Tools for Mind-Wandering Introduction Mind-Wandering as Task-Switching Mind-Wandering as Style Conclusion References Chapter 7: Windows to the Mind: Neurophysiological Indicators of Mind Wandering Across Tasks Introduction Measuring Mind Wandering Subjective Measures Objective Measures Eye Tracking Findings EEG Findings Mind Wandering Detection Conclusion References Chapter 8: Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for the Modulation of Mind Wandering Introduction Mind Wandering Is a Spontaneous Cognitive Process The Role of Mind Wandering in Educational Contexts Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Methods Transcranial Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Methods Auditory Beat Stimulation Modulation of Mind Wandering by TDCS and ABS Studies Using tDCS to Alter Mind Wandering Mind Wandering as a Target of ABS Discussion References Chapter 9: Education in Agency, Mind-Wandering, and the Contemplative Mind Introduction Breaking Down Agency in Education The Coarse Perspective: Integrated Subjects and Their Agency The Finer Resolution: Disintegrated Subjects and Agency Mind-Wandering, Mindfulness, and Agency Conclusion: Toward an Education in Agency Informed by Mind-Wandering and the Contemplative Mind References Chapter 10: A Contemplative Perspective on Mind Wandering Mind Wandering Contemplative Practice and Mind Wandering Mindfulness Mind Wandering and Mindfulness in Psychiatric Care Self-Construct The Mind and the Brain Discussion Why Is this Important to the Subject of Mind Wandering? Conclusion References Chapter 11: Mind-Wandering and Emotional Processing in Nondirective Meditation Nondirective Meditation The Relaxation Response Two Types of Emotional Processing The Mechanism Behind From Emotional to Structural Processing References Chapter 12: The Secret Powers of a Wandering Mind: Underestimated Potential of a Resting State Network for Language Acquisition Introduction The DMN Architecture: Within a Band of Neural Networks The Emotion Network (EM) The Salience Network (SN) The Default Mode Network (DMN) Functionality of the DMN Personal Development Creativity Language Production (Performance) Implications for (Not Only) the Language Classroom Limitations of the DMN Conclusion References Chapter 13: Is a Wandering Mind an Unhappy Mind? The Affective Qualities of Creativity, Volition, and Resistance Introduction A Task-Oriented Paradigm The Affective Mind Emotional Valence The Volition Dilemma A Matter of Choice Two Levels of Volitive Action A Continuum of Volition The Deliberate Against the Spontaneous: Polarities of Control Imagination, Thought, and Creativity The Creative Wanderer Resistance: Barriers Within the Psychological and Cultural Dimensions Mind Wandering, Creativity, and Resistance Conclusion References Chapter 14: Conclusion. Toward a Generative-Systemic Perspective: A Critical View on the Mind Wandering Arena SART and the Neoliberal Self Mind-Wandering as a Method Conclusion: Toward a Pedagogy of “Trans” References Index