Meta-awareness and Mind Wandering: Professor Jonathan Schooler at BTG

How much do we think about thinking? How aware usually are we of our awareness, and about what is happening around us? Jonathan Schooler, professor of psychology at the University of California (Santa Barbara), whose research focuses on consciousness, memory, meta-awareness, mind-wandering, and mindfulness, describes meta awareness as our ability to take explicit note of the current contents of consciousness. He notes that when we are not focusing on what is happening around us, we generate imaginative thoughts that are unrelated to external circumstances. It is common to experience such imaginative thoughts and experience moments when our minds have wandered away from the situation at hand. Schooler suggests that mind wandering is indicative of different kinds of attentional fluctuations. In this podcast Schooler describes mind-wandering as a phenomenon when a person’s attention is less directed towards external environment and it shifts more towards an internal train of thought. But is mind-wandering an attribute of attention or is this an attribute of consciousness? Jonathan Schooler shares his views on this. In this podcast, we also touch upon: Mind-wandering: day dreaming vs planning for future and goal setting Measuring frequency of mind-wandering: is there a scale to estimate the level of mind wandering an individual is involved in? What level and frequency of mind-wandering should be considered as a problem and not a tool to plan and imagine our future? Is there any evidence that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is associated with increased frequency of mind wandering? Can we say that mindfulness is a state when no mind wandering is going on? In their publications, Jonathan and his colleagues suggest that mindfulness training might hold potential for reducing mind wandering. So a question is that what kind of mindfulness training can assist us in reducing mind-wandering?

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