Self-caught reports of dreaming and mind wandering in a naturalistic environment: an online questionnaire study

Spontaneous thoughts and experiences like dreaming and mind wandering share many features but also differ in important ways. This study compared 340 questionnaire responses about dreaming and waking mind wandering, using a self-caught design to capture spontaneous experiences in daily life. Mixed-effect binary logistic regression identified dimensions that significantly predicted either dreaming or mind wandering, revealing differences between the two states. Visual and immersive imagery and scene-organization were central to dream phenomenology. Results showed a complex picture of similarities and differences, suggesting that dreaming may be intensified along certain dimensions compared to mind wandering.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract Spontaneous thoughts and experiences, such as dreaming and mind wandering, form a significant part of our conscious mental lives. Yet, the precise phenomenological and content-related similarities and differences between dreaming and waking mind wandering remain insufficiently understood. In this study, we address this gap by comparing 340 dreaming and mind wandering questionnaire responses that depending on the answers of participants ranged from 13 to 27 dimensions. While previous research primarily used laboratory settings and probe-caught methods, we used a self-caught design to capture spontaneous experiences in daily life. Data were explored with mixed-effect binary logistic regression models, which resulted in identifying dimensions that significantly predicted either dreaming or mind wandering and can therefore be considered as differences between both states. In addition, the relative frequency distributions of all dimensions were used to illustrate similarities between dreaming and mind wandering. Finally, we compared a subgroup of dreaming and mind wandering containing visual imagery. Visual and immersive imagery and scene-organization are central features of dream phenomenology and at the centre of leading dream theories. To further investigate the immersive quality of dreaming and mind wandering, we considered features related to self-experience such as Feeling of Presence and Self-perspective. Overall results showed a complex picture of differences and similarities between dreaming and mind wandering that can inform future research and help identify along which dimension dreaming might be considered as intensified compared to mind wandering.