Age-Related Differences on Mind Wandering While Using Technology: A Proposal for an Experimental Study

Mind wandering (MW) is a mental activity in which our thoughts drift away and turn into internal notions and feelings. Research suggests that individuals spend up to one half of their waking hours thinking about task-unrelated things. Being the opposite of goal-directed thinking, empirical evidence suggests that MW can forester creativity and problem solving. However, and despite growing efforts to understand the role of MW in technology-related settings, the role of individual differences remains unclear. We address this gap by proposing a research model that seeks to shed further light on age-related differences in MW while using different types of technology (i.e., hedonic and utilitarian systems). Thereby, we provide a point of departure for further research on how individual characteristics influence MW while using technology.