Why does the mind wander? | Zendy

Joshua Shepherd | Zendy

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Why does the mind wander?

Author(s) -

Joshua Shepherd

Publication year - 2019

Publication title -

neuroscience of consciousness

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 1.13

H-Index - 6

ISSN - 2057-2107

DOI - 10.1093/nc/niz014

Subject(s) - mind wandering , cognition , control (management) , psychology , cognitive science , process (computing) , function (biology) , cognitive psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , evolutionary biology , biology , operating system

I seek an explanation for the etiology and the function of mind wandering episodes. My proposal—which I call the cognitive control proposal—is that mind wandering is a form of non-conscious guidance due to cognitive control. When the agent’s current goal is deemed insufficiently rewarding, the cognitive control system initiates a search for a new, more rewarding goal. This search is the process of unintentional mind wandering. After developing the proposal, and relating it to the literature on mind wandering and on cognitive control, I discuss explanations the proposal affords, testable predictions the proposal makes, and philosophical implications the proposal has.

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