Directing the Wandering Mind

Abstract

Mind wandering—a mental phenomenon characterized by the spontaneous shift of attention away from external stimulation toward self-generated thought—has been consistently shown to have a negative impact on learning, yet little is known about how to reduce or redirect the experience in educational settings. In this article, I distinguish between approaches to directing mind wandering that focus on either the detection of lapses of attention (reactive) or restructuring of the learning environment (proactive) and argue that proactive approaches avoid issues of implementation that currently limit reactive approaches. I then review emerging research on a proactive approach to reducing and redirecting mind wandering that involves interpolating lecture-based content with brief memory tests, and further elaborate on the benefits of interpolated testing in other educationally relevant contexts. I conclude by highlighting that proactive approaches to creating attentive learning environments will also need to take into account characteristics of the individual learner.