Jonathan Smallwood

Jonathan Smallwood (born 1975) is currently a reader in the Department of Psychology at the University of York. His research uses the tools of cognitive neuroscience to investigate the process by which the brain self generates thoughts not arising from perception, such as during the experience of mind-wandering and daydreaming.

Education
The grandson of Joey Smallwood's cousin, Jonathan "Jonny" Smallwood earned his BA (1996) and PhD (2002) from The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. He was a lecturer in psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University (2002–2004) before traveling to the University of British Columbia as a post-doctoral researcher (2004–2006). From 2006 to 2008 he was a lecturer in psychology at the University of Aberdeen, after which Smallwood returned to North America to work with Jonathan Schooler as an assistant project scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 2011 to 2013 he was a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in the Department of Social Neuroscience. Since August 2013, he has been a reader in psychology at the University of York.

Academic career
Smallwood has been a pioneer in the integration of cognitive neuroscience methodologies to the study of mind-wandering.

Work
Smallwood pioneered the decoupling hypothesis, referring to the observation that individuals report having no memory of what happened in the surrounding environment while preoccupied with their thoughts.

In 2006, the publication of "The Restless Mind" served as a pivotal review, establishing a psychological framework for controversies characterizing cognitive neuroscience research into mind-wandering through the end of the decade.