Critical Review Essay – Mind Wandering This essay will peruse the literature on mind-wandering in regards to its involvement in consciousness, the methods of its measurement, the causes of the phenomenon, what makes one more susceptible to it, the content of it, the psychological and cognitive costs and benefits of it and the influence these costs and benefits have on academic life. Mind-wandering is important because it is a ubiquitous part of our psychological lives. Despite our intuitions, Killingsworth and Gilbert (2010) have shown mind-wandering occurs during 46.9% percent of our psychological lives. Moreover, with many embracing the curiosities of mindfulness and being “in-the-now”, mind-wandering is seldom treated as more than a useless distraction, and therefore deserves to have its strengths …show more content…
Within reading alone, mind-wandering has a significant negative influence on the reader’s comprehension ability (Mooneyham & Schooler, 2013) and reading speed, as well as causing longer average fixation duration, an absence of the word frequency effect on gaze duration (Foulsham, Farley, & Kingstone, 2013) and item-specific comprehension and model-building deficits (Smallwood, McSpadden, & Schooler, 2008). Mind-wandering is known to severely interfere with one’s ability in operations that demand a considerable amount of controlled processing (Mooneyham & Schooler, 2013) and in sustained attention and vigilance operations (Ottaviani & Couyoumdjian, 2013). Moreover, unhappiness is posited to be a consequence of mind-wandering (Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010). However, Killingsworth and Gilbert’s (2010) results are inferred purely from self-reporting anecdotal data and moreover, there are studies suggesting the inverse: that mind-wandering is a consequence of unhappiness, which casts pertinent doubt on the claim and others like it (Smallwood & O 'Connor,
The article, “The Power of Habit” (chapter 9), by Charles Duhigg, is about Angie Bachmann who was addicted to gambling. It all started one day when she felt so lonely that she decided to go out and play in the nearest casino. Angie started by setting rules just so she would not become addicted. As days went by Angie slowly started to break her rules and gambled more than what she should of have. Angie lost a lot of money. Although, Harrah’s casino would send her free stuff and vacation trips to get Angie to play more. Angie realized that she had a problem with gambling and went away for a time, but she went back to Harrah’s casino when her parents inherit her money. Angie lost all the money that she inherited and started to get loans
My mind eagerly involves itself by engulfing my surroundings and giving them some meaning. The office workers, too busy to pay attention to the life that surrounds them catch my eyes first. They seem to be apathetic robots, preprogrammed to start at one location and go to another. They pay little attention to any detail unless it has to do with them. I chuckle at the automated behavior of these robots.
Kennedy, Professor. "Wandering Mind." Wandering Mind RSS. Sakridge, 4 Feb. 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg proves his thesis by using a variety of stories as examples of how certain habits can benefit the person or group with this habit and how others can cause catastrophic disasters. An example of this is the story about the habit that was created among the different types of employees at the London Underground which causes Philip Brickell, an employee who collects tickets, to get used to the routine hat was “handed down from employee to employee--told him that he should never, under any circumstances, refer to anything inside the station as a ‘fire’” (Duhigg location 2610). Because Brickell was told this, he did not tell anyone about the burning tissue at the bottom of an escalator and a large fire spread throughout the London Underground, killing several people.
Addiction is something that may seem inevitable, but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article, “the power of habit” by Charles Duhigg, it states how Angie Bachmann became addicted to gambling and how it was entirely her fault because she kept accepting the offers from casinos and many other reasons. Both the casino and Angie knew what they were doing by Angie letting herself get into the situation and the casino encouraging it. She started out as a well-settled housewife. When everybody left the house, she ended up all alone without having much to do. Because of this, one day, as she was passing through the streets, she decided to visit a casino for a change. “She knew gambling could lead to trouble, so
A habit of mind is a way of thinking that one acquires over time. It is a type of thought that involves thinking beyond what society considers right or wrong, but acknowledging through complex thought, what is morally right. It is not easily achieved and is somewhat like a muscle, in that you have to build it up over time through intellectual work and hardship. Not everyone can achieve a strong habit of mind, in fact most don’t. The habit is a way of thinking that allows one to communicate with knowledge when the answer is not initially apparent. In order to think in this complex manner a person has to be well educated in all subjects of intelligence. Having a good education goes hand in hand with having good habits of mind, because in order to have positive functioning habits, a person has to be well rounded enough to considered every possible solution to the problems or questions posed. Being able to use a habit of mind also requires a type of thinking where others nor any outside force constrains any ideas or solutions . This by definition is a habit of mind.
This phase is not only active during the majority of my activities, however it is the main reasoning behind my actions and reactions. This phase revolves around being in familiar surroundings and personally knowing myself, which is key for a subconscious phase to come into effect. Familiar environments include being inside a classroom, school, or during work. I often find myself subconscious of my surroundings during these repetitive activities, because I have done them so often that my mind knows the appropriate actions I should take. Activities such as being in class, talking to classmates, and completing notes are things that can be done without extreme care. These are repetitive and do not require a very alert state of mind, which is why it falls into this section. However throughout these parts of my day, I often find myself switching back and forth between periods of alertness and daydreaming. My periods of alertness include taking tests at school, talking with professors, or dealing with customers at work. These are periods where I find that without mental alertness, I fail at my task. These important tasks signal my brain to be alert, and that a clear state of mind is important. Not being alert while taking notes is fine as I may miss something, however missing a question on a test is extremely detrimental. It is almost a subconscious thought, to be alert and aware during these stages of my day. I have been in school for the past 20 years, so this thought process is second nature for me. On the other hand, my brain is not always on high alert, so I do have periods of rest. My periods of daydreaming often include the time it takes to get to a different destination such as a walk from class to work. When I walk from one class to the next, I use that time to daydream about other things on my mind.
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feeling, thoughts, and bodily sensation, as a therapeutic technique. The M square, as I call it, which stands for Mindfulness and Meditation is making an impact on today’s society, as it has been used by more people with each passing day. They are starting to acknowledge the benefits, some of which are the improvement in both mental and physical health, acceptance of one 's self, lower stress and depression, and maybe more but to mention a few. Not excluding these two great men; Dr. Martinez, a Biocognitive Psychologist and Keith Mitchell, an ex-American football linebacker in the National Football League. Both Dr.
It is not easy to stop noticing the world around us and lose touch with the way our bodies are feeling and to end up living in our heads imprisoned in our thoughts without trying to notice those thoughts are driving our emotions and Behavior.
When I climb the trail leading to my favorite place in nature, I am not only concentrating, but also I think o things such as what I will be doing the next day or week. In some cases I even think of what lies in my future. When I am angry with someone, I go there to try to become a rational thinker, and to try to see the other person's point of view. Once I am up on the cliff, I sit down and let the sun hit me. I take deep breathes and separate my thoughts from my feelings in my mind. It is still very quiet, and now I can hear my breathing in slow, soft rhythms and think about life, death, and happiness.
“ What we seem to be sacrificing in all our surfing and searching is our capacity to engage in the quieter, attentive modes of thought that underpin contemplation, reflection and introspection” ( Carr 23).
on my work enough. Even when I try my hardest to concentrate, my mind seems to
The mind has an incredible power. We see it as we go through our everyday activities, constantly displaying the wonders of logic, thought, memory and creativity. Yet, can the mind be more powerful than we know? Is it possible to reduce or even eliminate pain, illness and disease by using the natural powers it possesses? Can the mind heal?
Overview This paper will discuss the mind-body connection and its relevance to health care professionals and to the public. It will explore the history of the mind-body connection, as well as state research that has been done on the subject. The reader will gain an understanding of the various techniques used in mind-body therapy, as well as their effectiveness. What is the Mind-Body Connection?
way that can be a distraction, will be set aside and focus only on what is important.