Daydream
Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which participants spend 47% of their waking time on average on daydreaming.[1] There are various names of this phenomenon including mind wandering, fantasy, spontaneous thoughts, etc. Daydreaming is the term used by Jerome L. Singer whose research programs laid the foundation for nearly all the subsequent research in this area today. The list of terminologies assigned by researchers today puts challenges on identifying the common features of the phenomenon, in this case daydreaming, and on building collective work among researchers.[2]
There are many types of daydreams, and there is no consistent definition among psychologists. However, the characteristic that is common to all forms of daydreaming meets the criteria for mild dissociation.[3] Also, the impacts of different types of daydreams are not identical. While some are disruptive and deleterious, others may be beneficial in some way.[4]
In the recent research, identified costs of daydreaming outnumber the potential benefits. Mooneyham and Schooler reviewed studies published from 1995 and found 29 studies related to costs compared to only 6 recent studies arguing functional benefits of daydreaming. Some of the major costs of daydreaming summarized by the review are associated with performances such as reading, sustained attention, mood, etc.[4]
The negative associations of daydreaming on reading performance have been studied the most thoroughly. Research shows that there is a negative correlation between daydreaming frequency and reading comprehension performance. To be specific, there are costs associated with daydreaming during reading and the costs include deficits of item-specific comprehension and model-building ability.[4]
Disruptive daydreams, or spontaneous daydreaming is also characteristic of people with attention-deficit hyperactive disorder, and can be viewed in a negative light as children with ADHD tend to have a more difficult time concentrating on their surroundings and being mindful of current tasks.[5][6]
Negative mood is another association of daydreaming. Research finds people generally report a lower happiness rating when they are daydreaming than when they are not. Even during activities they otherwise would enjoy. For the positive daydreaming, people report the same happiness rating between current tasks and pleasant things they are more likely to daydream about. This finding remains true across all activities. The important relationship between mood and daydreaming from time-lag analysis is that the latter comes first, not the other way round.[4]
