Wandering mind improves reasoning learning

Let’s wander the heart It’s an interesting phenomenon. The average person spends up to 50% of his awakening time in this semi-dream-like state. Although notoriously for undermining performance on tasks that require intensive and sustained attention, serving as a distraction attraction is also associated with improved performance in some areas. In particular, wandering minds bring benefits Creativity Also, certain types of problem solving are because the high cognitive control required to focus on demanding tasks can leave other, more free form mind states out of luck.

Wandering Earth

It is well known that one solution for analytical paralysis (who finds himself blocked by a strict approach) is to take a walk, listen to music, or otherwise allow fantasies. This shakes things up, introduces some randomness, some noise or “probabilisticity”, leads us to a canalized mental process, and fine-tunes us from well-treaded ruts.

Given the strange way mind wandering can gum and lubricate efforts on different types of tasks, recent research journal Neuroscience (Simor et al., 2025) It is particularly interesting to investigate the effects of mind wandering on stochastic learning. Probabilistic or statistical learning involves picking up connections and noticing patterns within a stream of complex information. This process occurs unintentionally outside of perception, and is probably not consciously controlled by getting out of one’s own path.

Fantasy in the lab

In this study, the researchers recruited 37 participants and asked them to complete multiple trials of alternating continuous reaction time (ASRT) tasks that required attention. For example, if the arrow points to the right, click the corresponding key. In approximately 30 ASRT trials, participants wore EEG caps to track brain wave activity. The exam was set up so that researchers could measure both stochastic learning and visual motor performance based on how the stimuli were presented. After each trial, participants were assessed for levels of wandering minds regarding perceptions, thoughts, or memory that were not related to the ASRT task. If anything, what were they thinking? Was their hearts blank? How long have their minds wandered from the task? and so on.

At the basic level, the results showed that mind wandering differed significantly between people and in the course of the exam for a particular individual. Naturally, mind wandering increased towards the end of the task.

What we learned

From the perspective of specific outcomes, statistical analysis showed that probabilistic learning was enhanced during mind wandering, but minds that interfered with visual motor performance were interfering. Mind wandering not only disrupts stochastic learning, but also increased the ability to unintentionally pick up fast-paced data flow patterns during actual resource-demand tasks. This was true for the entire sample, even after considering individual differences.

Furthermore, EEG-derived EEG activity on the brain surface showed slow delta wave frequency reminiscent of sleep states. Furthermore, mind wandering was effective in enhancing stochastic learning when it was spontaneous rather than intentionally induced. This could have important implications for how we utilize this strange state of mind.

meaning

This study is consistent with previous studies showing the selective benefits of mind wandering. Importantly, wandering in the mind is beneficial for stochastic learning regardless of individual variation and suggests that it is a general feature of how people think. Similarity with I’m sleeping EEG activity also means that learning during sleep tracks mind wandering and supports unintended connections based on probabilistic learning. We know that sleep is important to learning. dream Working in this respect may be related to how the brain responds to raucous, confused activities. Pattern recognition Sleeping. The recall of our dreams when we awaken, may reflect a conscious activity of less organized activity. Freud The idea of ​​the raw “first” process in a dream, and the story of the “secondary” revision or process that creates a sense when the dream is reflected, written down and actively analyzed.

Those seeking to exploit this type of learning wandering may benefit most if such meandering occurs naturally and spontaneously based on the results mentioned above. Trying to force your mind to wander is less likely to work in the same way. However, creating situations in which the mind tends to wander unintentionally may allow for semi-intentional cultivation of this fruitful state of mind. and ADHD And, you may find this particularly interesting job, given that the associated experience of increasing minds tends to wash your mind more frequently, such as connections with creativity, probabilistic information processing, and certain types of enhanced problem solving. Those who refuse to wander the mind can enjoy the benefits of high cognitive control, but they may also consider whether it is beneficial to relax the grip a little.

When to wander the mind, when to sit down and exert conscious control, and how to move these states of mind flexibly retain the promise to optimize performance. This affects how you do your brain network Default Mode NetworkCentral Executive Network, and Salience Network – Interplay to generate a consistent, integrated sense of self over time.

And finally, there is an impact Psychotherapyespecially Psychoanalysis Therapy is critically dependent on human development’s ability to dream. Literally, not just in the sense of nocturne dreams, but also in the sense of dreaming as a form of learning, savior, freedom separation and reflection for these processes. In the words of psychoanalyst Thomas H. Ogden, he is known for his work, “dreaming”:

In the process of participating in dreaming about the patient’s informal, interrupted dreams, the analyst comes to know the patient at a depth that allows him to say something conscious and true in a sense. Unconscious The emotional experiences occurring in the analytical relationship at that moment.