Comparing the phenomenological qualities of stimulus-independent thought, stimulus-dependent thought and dreams using experience sampling
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences December 13, 2020 Madeleine E. Gross, Anna Smith, Yvette M. Graveline et al. 37 citations
People spend much of their lives engaged in stimulus-independent thoughts (SITs), such as dreaming and waking thoughts not tied to immediate surroundings, which can feel similar to stimulus-dependent thoughts (SDTs) driven by external input. Using a 7-day smartphone-based experience-sampling procedure where participants reported whether their current thoughts were stimulus dependent or independent and rated qualitative aspects like topic jumping, the results show substantial distinctiveness among dreaming, waking SITs, and SDTs, with significant differences between at least two of the three mental states across every measured variable.