@article{ref1,
title="Does mind wandering reflect executive function or executive failure? Comment on Smallwood and Schooler (2006) and Watkins (2008)",
journal="Psychological bulletin",
year="2010",
author="McVay, Jennifer C. and Kane, Michael J.",
volume="136",
number="2",
pages="188-97; discussion 198",
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.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0033-2909",
doi="10.1037/a0018298",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0018298"
}