Introduction: Mind wandering is a pervasive experience in which attention is focused on self-generated thoughts rather than an ongoing task. Prior research found that mind wandering decreases with age, but the reasons are unclear. The present study investigated the influence of mood induction on this phenomenon. Methods: We compared older and younger adults’ mind wandering tendencies during a choice reaction time (CRT) task, after exposing them to one of three mood induction conditions (positive, negative, neutral). We measured participants’ reaction times and accuracy during the CRT, as well as depression levels. Results: We found that older adults reported less mind wandering, and younger adults reported specifically more future-oriented mind wandering. Additionally, while both positive and negative mood inductions significantly shifted all participants’ moods, we did not replicate a prior study of younger adults that found negative mood induction increased mind wandering. Mood induction also did not alter reaction times or accuracy on the CRT. Conclusion: These findings show an age-related reduction in mind wandering but indicate that the causes of that reduction need further investigation. The results also suggest that prior mood induction studies warrant further careful replication attempts and that the role of emotion in age differences in mind wandering needs further emphasis.

Journal Section:
Behavioral Science Section
Keywords:
Aging, Mind wandering, Mood, Depression
1.
Killingsworth
MA
,
Gilbert
DT
.
A wandering mind is an unhappy mind
.
Science
.
2010
;
330
(
6006
):
932
.
Google Scholar
 
2.
Maillet
D
,
Beaty
RE
,
Jordano
ML
,
Touron
DR
,
Adnan
A
,
Silvia
PJ
, et al.
Age-related differences in mind-wandering in daily life
.
Psychol Aging
.
2018
;
33
(
4
):
643
–
53
.
Google Scholar
 
3.
Welz
A
,
Reinhard
I
,
Alpers
GW
,
Kuehner
C
.
Happy thoughts: mind wandering affects mood in daily life
.
Mindfulness
.
2018
;
9
(
1
):
332
–
43
.
Google Scholar
 
4.
Mooneyham
BW
,
Schooler
JW
.
The costs and benefits of mind-wandering: a review
.
Can J Exp Psychol
.
2013
;
67
(
1
):
11
–
8
.
Google Scholar
 
5.
Baird
B
,
Smallwood
J
,
Mrazek
MD
,
Kam
JWY
,
Franklin
MS
,
Schooler
JW
.
Inspired by distraction: mind wandering facilitates creative incubation
.
Psychol Sci
.
2012
;
23
(
10
):
1117
–
22
.
Google Scholar
 
6.
Giambra
LM
.
Task-unrelated thought frequency as a function of age: a laboratory study
.
Psychol Aging
.
1989
;
4
(
2
):
136
–
43
.
Google Scholar
 
7.
Krawietz
SA
,
Tamplin
AK
,
Radvansky
GA
.
Aging and mind wandering during text comprehension
.
Psychol Aging
.
2012
;
27
(
4
):
951
–
8
.
Google Scholar
 
8.
Shake
MC
,
Shulley
LJ
,
Soto-Freita
AM
.
Effects of individual differences and situational features on age differences in mindless reading
.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
.
2016
;
71
(
5
):
808
–
20
.
Google Scholar
 
9.
Smallwood
J
,
Nind
L
,
O’Connor
RC
.
When is your head at? An exploration of the factors associated with the temporal focus of the wandering mind
.
Conscious Cogn
.
2009
;
18
(
1
):
118
–
25
.
Google Scholar
 
10.
Smallwood
J
,
Schooler
JW
.
The science of mind wandering: empirically navigating the stream of consciousness
.
Annu Rev Psychol
.
2015
;
66
:
487
–
518
.
Google Scholar
 
11.
Jordão
M
,
Ferreira-Santos
F
,
Pinho
MS
,
St Jacques
PL
.
Meta-analysis of aging effects in mind wandering: methodological and sociodemographic factors
.
Psychol Aging
.
2019
;
34
(
4
):
531
–
44
.
Google Scholar
 
12.
Seli
P
,
Beaty
RE
,
Cheyne
JA
,
Smilek
D
,
Oakman
J
,
Schacter
DL
.
How pervasive is mind wandering, really
.
Conscious Cogn
.
2018
;
66
:
74
–
8
.
Google Scholar
 
13.
Weinstein
Y
.
Mind-wandering, how do I measure thee with probes? Let me count the ways
.
Behav Res Methods
.
2018
;
50
(
2
):
642
–
61
.
Google Scholar
 
14.
Charles
ST
.
Emotional experience and regulation in later life
. In:
Schaie
KW
,
Willis
SL
, editors.
Handbook of the psychology of aging
. 7th ed.
San Diego, CA
:
Elsevier Academic Press
;
2011
. p.
295
–
310
.
Google Scholar
 
15.
Knight
BG
,
Rastegar
S
,
Kim
S
.
Age differences in the connection of mood and cognition: evidence from studies of mood congruent effects
. In:
Schaie
KW
,
Willis
S
, editors.
Handboook of the psychology of aging
. 8th ed.
San Diego, CA
:
Elsevier Academic Press
;
2016
. p.
279
–
302
.
Google Scholar
 
16.
Mather
M
,
Carstensen
LL
.
Aging and motivated cognition: the positivity effect in attention and memory
.
Trends Cogn Sci
.
2005
;
9
(
10
):
496
–
502
.
Google Scholar
 
17.
Smallwood
J
,
Fitzgerald
A
,
Miles
LK
,
Phillips
LH
.
Shifting moods, wandering minds: negative moods lead the mind to wander
.
Emotion
.
2009
;
9
(
2
):
271
–
6
.
Google Scholar
 
18.
Smallwood
J
,
O’Connor
RC
.
Imprisoned by the past: unhappy moods lead to a retrospective bias to mind wandering
.
Cogn Emot
.
2011
;
25
(
8
):
1481
–
90
.
Google Scholar
 
19.
Reuter-Lorenz
PA
,
Lustig
C
.
Working memory and executive functions in the aging brain
. In:
Cabeza
R
,
Nyberg
L
,
Park
DC
, editors.
Cognitive neuroscience of aging: linking cognitive and cerebral aging
. 2nd ed.
New York, NY
:
Oxford University Press
;
2017
. p.
235
–
58
.
Google Scholar
 
20.
Salthouse
TA
.
Major issues in cognitive aging
.
Oxford University Press USA
;
2010
. Available from: https://academic.oup.com/book/12808
Google Scholar
 
21.
Zavagnin
M
,
Borella
E
,
De Beni
R
.
When the mind wanders: age-related differences between young and older adults
.
Acta Psychol
.
2014
;
145
:
54
–
64
.
Google Scholar
 
22.
Jackson
JD
,
Balota
DA
.
Mind-wandering in younger and older adults: converging evidence from the sustained attention to response task and reading for comprehension
.
Psychol Aging
.
2012
;
27
(
1
):
106
–
19
.
Google Scholar
 
23.
Frank
DJ
,
Nara
B
,
Zavagnin
M
,
Touron
DR
,
Kane
MJ
.
Validating older adults’ reports of less mind-wandering: an examination of eye movements and dispositional influences
.
Psychol Aging
.
2015
;
30
(
2
):
266
–
78
.
Google Scholar
 
24.
McVay
JC
,
Meier
ME
,
Touron
DR
,
Kane
MJ
.
Aging ebbs the flow of thought: adult age differences in mind wandering, executive control, and self-evaluation
.
Acta Psychol
.
2013
;
142
(
1
):
136
–
47
.
Google Scholar
 
25.
Jackson
JD
,
Weinstein
Y
,
Balota
DA
.
Can mind-wandering be timeless? Atemporal focus and aging in mind-wandering paradigms
.
Front Psychol
.
2013
;
4
:
742
.
Google Scholar
 
26.
Maillet
D
,
Schacter
DL
.
When the mind wanders: distinguishing stimulus-dependent from stimulus-independent thoughts during incidental encoding in young and older adults
.
Psychol Aging
.
2016
;
31
(
4
):
370
–
9
.
Google Scholar
 
27.
Deng
Y-Q
,
Li
S
,
Tang
Y-Y
.
The relationship between wandering mind, depression and mindfulness
.
Mindfulness
.
2014
;
5
(
2
):
124
–
8
.
Google Scholar
 
28.
Ruby
FJM
,
Smallwood
J
,
Engen
H
,
Singer
T
.
How self-generated thought shapes mood—the relation between mind-wandering and mood depends on the socio-temporal content of thoughts
.
PLoS one
.
2013
;
8
(
10
):
e77554
.
Google Scholar
 
29.
Mrazek
MD
,
Smallwood
J
,
Schooler
JW
.
Mindfulness and mind-wandering: finding convergence through opposing constructs
.
Emotion
.
2012
;
12
(
3
):
442
–
8
.
Google Scholar
 
30.
Carstensen
LL
.
The influence of a sense of time on human development
.
Science
.
2006
;
312
(
5782
):
1913
–
5
.
Google Scholar
 
31.
Carstensen
LL
,
Charles
ST
.
Emotion in the second half of life
.
Curr Dir Psychol Sci
.
1998
;
7
(
5
):
144
–
9
.
Google Scholar
 
32.
Fredrickson
BL
.
The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions
.
Am Psychol
.
2001
;
56
(
3
):
218
–
26
.
Google Scholar
 
33.
Velten
E
Jr..
A laboratory task for induction of mood states
.
Behav Res Ther
.
1968
;
6
(
4
):
473
–
82
.
Google Scholar
 
34.
Moore
SC
,
Oaksford
M
.
Some long-term effects of emotion on cognition
.
Br J Psychol
.
2002
;
93
(
Pt 3
):
383
–
95
.
Google Scholar
 
35.
Lessard
MD
.
Study of the mood induction procedure and the measurement of mood
.
Graduate Student Theses Dissertations, & Professional Papers
;
1993
. Available from: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/4973
Google Scholar
 
© 2025 S. Karger AG, Basel
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
2025
You do not currently have access to this content.