Working memory
research has studied the relationship between mind-wandering and working memory capacity. Working memory capacity represents personal skill to have a good command of individual's mind. This relationship requires more research to understand how they influence one another. It is possible that mind-wandering causes lower performance on working memory capacity tasks or that lower working memory capacity causes more instances of mind-wandering. Only the second of these has actually been proven. Reports of task-unrelated thoughts are less frequent when performing tasks that do not demand continuous use of working memory than tasks which do. Moreover, individual difference studies demonstrate that when tasks are non-demanding, high levels of working memory capacity are associated with more frequent reports of task-unrelated thinking especially when it is focused on the future. By contrast, when performing tasks that demand continuous attention, high levels of working memory capacity are associated with fewer reports of task-unrelated thoughts. Together these data are consistent with the claim that working memory capacity helps sustain a train of thought whether it is generated in response to a perceptual event or is self-generated by the individual. Therefore, under certain circumstances, the experience of mind-wandering is supported by working memory resources. Working memory capacity variation in individuals has been proven to be a good predictor of the natural tendency for mind-wandering to occur during cognitively demanding tasks and various activities in daily life.