A new, large-sample study finds little support for a link between mind-wandering and creative thinking. This follows several other studies finding mixed evidence that mind-wandering supports creativity.
The Discussion offers much food for thought, including a call for more precise and testable theories. It also lists 7 specific hypotheses to test for any link between mind-wandering and creativity in future work:
"If the psychology of creativity is to make progress on this question, beyond collecting dozens of studies that use different methods and produce conflicting findings, the field must develop theories that specify the hypothesized nature of the association and that guide further empirical investigations. We list several possibilities below (only some of which are mutually exclusive), but creativity theorists could (and should) probably develop more:
Hypothesis 1: Mind-wandering is a sign, symptom, or result of creativity, not a cause.
Hypothesis 2: Mind-wandering during development facilitates the subsequent development of creative thinking and behavior, but it doesn't concurrently affect adult creativity.
Hypothesis 3: Suitably off-task mind-wandering following a problem-solving impasse can create a mental context change that keeps prior dead-ends at bay and thereby facilitates more novel thinking.
Hypothesis 4: Unconstrained mind-wandering, during the creative process or following an impasse, provides mental access to more remote and novel ideas than directed, linear thinking.
Hypothesis 5: Fantastical mind-wandering that is divorced from realistic concerns, during the creative process or after an impasse, activates similarly novel solutions to creative problems.
Hypothesis 6: Unconstrained or fantastical mind-wandering may suggest to creators that purposefully thinking in these ways may benefit progress on their creative projects.
Hypothesis 7: Unconstrained or fantastical mind-wandering provides access to remote, novel ideas, but they are only beneficial if there is sufficient metaconsciousness to notice and harness those ideas before they are forgotten."