Phenomenology of the stream of thought: dissociable dynamic dimensions revealed through experience sampling
Sneha K S Sheth, Mike Doswell, Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva, Rebecca M Todd, Evan Thompson, Lawrence M Ward · 2026
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Description
Sneha K S Sheth and five co-authors explore the stream of thought, the flow of inner life William James named over a century ago. Most consciousness research studies sight and sound, not this flow. Their 2026 study draws on a framework that sorts thought by how it moves. Two styles are tested: thoughts that drift freely, and thoughts steered on purpose. Four studies, in labs, online, and in a brain scanner, asked people to report their thought style during quiet rest.
People could report the two styles, and the styles read as distinct. They pulled against each other but were not strict opposites. The pattern held across all settings. The authors say the two styles offer a base for work that joins first-person reports with brain data.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Sneha K S Sheth, Mike Doswell, Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva, Rebecca M Todd, Evan Thompson, Lawrence M Ward |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 44 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |