Spontaneously reported dreams and mind wandering in a naturalistic environment: An online questionnaire study
April 29, 2024 Manuela Kirberg, Jonathan Edward Robinson, Jennifer Windt preprint
Spontaneous thoughts like dreaming and mind wandering make up much of human consciousness, but their similarities and differences are not well understood. This study compared 340 questionnaires on dreaming and mind wandering, covering 13 to 27 dimensions depending on participant responses. Using a naturalistic self-caught design in daily life, rather than laboratory settings, the researchers applied mixed-effect binary logistic regression models to identify dimensions that significantly predicted whether an experience was a dream or mind wandering. Visual and immersive imagery and scene-organization were central to dream phenomenology. Results revealed a complex pattern of differences and similarities, suggesting dreaming may be an intensified form of mind wandering along certain dimensions.