Exploring Mind Wandering in a Technological Setting

This study investigates the moderating role of mind wandering in influencing the relationships between on-task thought and two functional outcomes of interacting with technology (i.e., creativity and knowledge retention). The study extends the content regulation hypothesis of mind wandering by differentiating mind wandering into two categories—technology-related and nontechnology-related. The scales to measure mind wandering and on-task thought were first developed and validated. After that, the structural model was tested. The findings suggest that mind wandering (technologyrelated) positively moderates the relationship between on-task thought (technologyrelated) and creativity and mind wandering (nontechnology-related) positively moderates the relationship between on-task thought (nontechnology-related) and knowledge retention. The results also show that creativity is positively associated with knowledge retention. By acknowledging the potential benefits associated with mind wandering, this study is able to show that mind wandering is not always destructive; it can offer some unique benefits for technology users.