ArticlePloS one2017
Lab meets real life: A laboratory assessment of spontaneous thought and its ecological validity.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Relative Accuracy of Different Methods for Measuring Mind Wandering Subtypes: A Systematic Review.Brain and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Electrophysiological signatures of ongoing thoughts during naturalistic behavior.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Effects of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on mood and cortisol in daily life in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder.Psychological medicine · 2023Article
- Differential relationships between thought dimensions and momentary affect in daily life.Psychological research · 2023Article
- Online Mindfulness Intervention for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Adherence and Efficacy.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- The 'Real-World Approach' and Its Problems: A Critique of the Term Ecological Validity.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- Repetitive negative thinking in daily life and functional connectivity among default mode, fronto-parietal, and salience networks.Translational psychiatry · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
People's minds frequently wander towards self-generated thoughts, which are unrelated to external stimuli or demands. These phenomena, referred to as "spontaneous thought" (ST) and "mind wandering" (MW), have previously been linked with both costs and benefits. Current assessments of ST and MW have predominantly been conducted in the laboratory, whereas studies on the ecological validity of such lab-related constructs and their interrelations are rare. The current study examined the stability of ST dimensions assessed in the lab and their predictive value with respect to MW, repetitive negative thought (uncontrollable rumination, RUM), and affect in daily life. Forty-three university students were assessed with the Amsterdam Resting State Questionnaire (2nd version) to assess ten ST dimensions during the resting state in two laboratory sessions, which were separated by five days of electronic ambulatory assessment (AA). During AA, individuals indicated the intensity of MW and RUM, as well as of positive and negative affect in daily life ten times a day. ST dimensions measured in the lab were moderately stable across one week. Five out of ten ST lab dimensions were predicted by mental health-related symptoms or by dispositional cognitive traits. Hierarchical linear models revealed that a number of ST lab dimensions predicted cognitive and affective states in daily life. Mediation analyses showed that RUM, but not MW per se, accounted for the relationship between specific ST lab dimensions and mood in daily life. By using a simple resting state task, we could demonstrate that a number of lab dimensions of spontaneous thought are moderately stable, are predicted by mental health symptoms and cognitive traits, and show plausible associations with categories of self-generated thought and mood in daily life.
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