Spontaneous thought separates into clusters of negative, positive, and flexible thinking.

ABSTRACT: The nature and frequency of spontaneous thoughts play a critical role in cognitive processes like perception, decision-making, attention, and memory. Deficits in these processes are also greatly associated with the development and maintenance of psychopathology. However, the underlying cognitive dynamics of free and stuck spontaneous thought remain unclear, as these often occur in the absence of measurable behaviors. Here, we analyze free word-association data using attractor-state dynamic modeling, which conceptualizes stuck spontaneous thought as navigating a multidimensional semantic space while in the presence of strong attractor locations. Word-association data was collected from an exploratory sample (N₁ = 65), a first replication sample (N₂ = 79), and, followin

SUBMITTER: Migo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11799332 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature