A wandering mind reveals mental processes and priorities March
15, 2012 Odds are, you're not going to make it all the way
through this article without thinking about something else. In
fact, studies have found that our minds are wandering half the
time, drifting off to thoughts unrelated to what we're doing —
did I remember to turn off the light? What should I have for
dinner? A new study investigating the mental processes
underlying a wandering mind reports a role for working memory, a
sort of a mental workspace that allows you to juggle multiple
thoughts simultaneously. Imagine you see your neighbor upon
arriving home one day and schedule a lunch date. On your way to
add it to your calendar, you stop to turn off the drippy faucet,
feed the cat, and add milk to your grocery list. The capacity
that allows you to retain the lunch information through those
unrelated tasks is working memory. The new study, published
online March 14 in the journal Psychological Science by Daniel
Levinson and Richard Davidson at t