Mind-Wandering as a Natural Kind: A Family-Resemblances View

• Published in: Trends in cognitive sciences Vol. 22; no. 6; pp. 479 - 490
• Main Authors: Seli, Paul, Kane, Michael J., Smallwood, Jonathan, Schacter, Daniel L., Maillet, David, Schooler, Jonathan W., Smilek, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2018
• Subjects: Attention; definition; family resemblances; heterogeneous; Humans; mind-wandering; Models, Psychological; Thinking; varieties; mind-wandering; definition; varieties; family resemblances; heterogeneous
• ISSN: 1364-6613; 1879-307X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2018.03.010

As empirical research on mind-wandering accelerates, we draw attention to an emerging trend in how mind-wandering is conceptualized. Previously articulated definitions of mind-wandering differ from each other in important ways, yet they also maintain overlapping characteristics. This conceptual structure suggests that mind-wandering is best considered from a family-resemblances perspective, which entails treating it as a graded, heterogeneous construct and clearly measuring and describing the specific aspect(s) of mind-wandering that researchers are investigating. We believe that adopting this family-resemblances approach will increase conceptual and methodological connections among related phenomena in the mind-wandering family and encourage a more nuanced and precise understanding of the many varieties of mind-wandering. Recent research on mind-wandering has indicated that this experience is a complex phenomenon varying on numerous dimensions, which suggests that mind-wandering is best considered as a multidimensional construct held together by patterns of overlapping and nonoverlapping features. To date, however, researchers have tended to treat mind-wandering as a unitary construct (e.g., encompassing only task-unrelated thought). We argue that this practice leads to a lack of appreciation of the specificity of particular findings and artificially constrains conceptual and theoretical understanding of the phenomenon. Therefore, we propose that researchers adopt a family-resemblances approach to mind-wandering, which involves treating mind-wandering as a heterogeneous construct, and clearly measuring and/or describing the specific aspects of the variety of mind-wandering under investigation.