How on earth could I make such a
ridiculous mistake? How could I have
missed that? These are questions that
almost everyone is forced to ask themselves at some point. Day dreaming or being absent minded is a
nuisance that often causes individuals to make minor errors that they otherwise
would not. However, an article in the International Business Times reveals a
somewhat unexpected twist on absentmindedness.
The article concerns a study from Psychological
Science which reported that an individual’s working memory space is related
to the likelihood that they will “drift off” or become absent minded. Specifically, the study indicates that
subjects with a better working memory were actually more prone to
absentmindedness. Monami Thakur, the
author of the International Business
Times article states, “A new study has indicated that a wandering mind is a
form of a mental workspace that allows you to juggle multiple thoughts
simultaneously.”
In his book The Ravenous Brain, Daniel Bor discusses both the phenomenon of
absentmindedness (in a broader discussion of attention) and working memory,
ultimately linking them to consciousness.
In reference to attention and absentmindedness, Bor states, “What I
attend to is what I’m conscious of, and whatever falls outside of my attention
is processed, if at all, by my unconscious mind alone” (112). This makes intuitive sense. For instance, if you’re driving home from
work and are playing around with the radio, you may accidentally pass your
street. Your attention is directed
toward the radio and you are conscious of the song that’s playing; however, you
are not conscious of your street as you pass it (or it is processed by your
unconscious) because your attention is directed elsewhere. Later in the book,
Bor addresses working memory by writing, “…I firmly agree with [Bernard] Baars
that consciousness and working memory are largely synonymous processes, and
that attention is the critical means by which items enter into consciousness” (136). Here, it is easy to see the connection
between working memory, attention, and consciousness as defined by Bor. However, taken in conjunction with the aforementioned
article, the picture becomes much cloudier.
Essentially, Bor paints the
picture that an individual’s working memory can allow some object or stimulus
to enter consciousness, only if their attention
is directed toward that specific object or stimulus. In my opinion, this makes logical sense and
is supported by the George Sperling study that Bor references later in this
section of the book. He also implies
this idea when discussing absentmindedness by establishing the close linkage of
attention and awareness. However, the
article in International Business Times
provides an interesting juxtaposition to this.
The question becomes, if working memory space increases with the
likelihood of becoming absent minded or inattentive to the task at hand, does
that in turn mean that our consciousness is inversely related to working memory
space? Or is it that a larger working
memory space is positively correlated to an individual’s consciousness, but
negatively correlated with the necessity
of attention to perform well on memorization tasks?
It appears to me that the latter
is most likely true. To elaborate, Bor
seems to depict attention and working memory almost like a filter and net,
respectively. Specifically, working
memory acts as a net to catch the information with which an individual is
presented and direct it into consciousness. However, in a typical human being, this
net on its own will simply catch any random four objects and bring them to
consciousness. With the addition of
attention (a filter), individuals can screen out irrelevant information so that
their net only catches specific objects.
However, if we increase the size of the net (larger working memory),
then we decrease the need for a filter (attention). Generally,
I would say that this study does not necessarily imply that absentmindedness
(or a “wandering mind” as referred to in the International Business Times article) opens up space in the working
memory. Rather, I would say that this
study in conjunction with Bor’s commentary on working memory, attention, and
consciousness provides new insight and evidence as to how these three are
closely related.
Bor, D.
(2012). The Ravenous Brain: How the New Science of Consciousness
Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning. New York: Basic Books.
Thakur, M.
(2012, March 17). Wandering Minds and Absent Minded Children Have Sharper
Brains: Report. International Business
Times. Retrieved October 16, 2014. http://www.ibtimes.com/wandering-minds-absent-minded-children-have-sharper-brains-report-426476
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