心神漫遊（mind wandering）是日常生活中常見的意識經驗，與白日夢或恍神等概念有類似的指涉或混用。多數的研究者以「與目標作業無關的思緒」統括這類主觀經驗，探討其與心理或腦神經活動的關係，包括注意力、創造力、正念、心理健康或老化等領域。然而多樣且分歧的證據凸顯了主流定義的局限性，因而有不同的觀點提出，但仍缺乏系統性的回顧與比較。也有不少心理學者聚焦在影響心神漫遊發生的機制或影響因子，但證據與解釋尚待整合。本論文從兩個議題回顧心神漫遊至今的研究成果。其一是「什麼是心神漫遊？」我們比較三個心神漫遊觀點（作業中心觀點、動力架構觀點與家族相似性觀點）中的定義、測量方法、證據、限制，以及對認知表現、創造力與心理健康的影響。其二是「心神漫遊如何發生與調控？」我們回顧主流觀點下有關心神漫遊調控機制的假說與可能的影響因子，特別是心神漫遊與注意力調控有關的個體認知資源（工作記憶廣度）或執行控制功能間的關係。針對分歧的證據，我們提出一個整合性假設，強調覺察當下傾向（正念特質的一個面向）在不同難度的作業情境中對上述關係的調節角色，以及其對大分心時代的意涵。

Mind wandering, a subjective daily experience often conflated with daydreaming or zoning out, has been primarily investigated as “task-unrelated thoughts” in psychology and cognitive neuroscience concerning attention, creativity, mindfulness, mental health, and aging. However, diverse evidence also reveals the limitations of this mainstream definition and prompts alternative viewpoints, that have yet to be systematically reviewed and compared. In addition, the issue regarding its mechanisms or predictive factors in terms of the occurrence of task-related thought remains unsettled. This article thus examines mind-wandering research from two perspectives: “What is mind wandering?” and “How does it occur and how can it be regulated?” Three current viewpoints (the task-centric view, the dynamic framework view, and the family resemblance view) are first introduced in terms of definitions, measurement, related evidence, relations with cognitive performance, creativity and mental health, and limitations. Then we examine the issue regarding how executive control functions or cognitive resources influence the occurrence of mind wandering, on which inconsistent evidence has been addressed. Finally, we propose “the awareness-modulation hypothesis”, highlighting the modulatory role of present-moment awareness (an aspect of mindfulness) to integrate the current diverse evidence better. Its implications for the age of distraction are discussed.

工作記憶廣度;心神漫遊;正念特質;執行控制功能;覺察

awareness; executive control function; mind wandering; trait mindfulness; working memory capacity