The effects of motivational variables on mind wandering during reading
Final Report Abstract
The present project was directed to the relations between reading motivation, interest, mind wandering, and reading comprehension. The following goals were pursued: First, we sought to investigate if the readers’ or learners’ motivation contribute to the amount of mind wandering during reading. Second, we examined whether the previously found effects of reading motivation on reading comprehension are at least partially mediated by mind wandering. Third, we investigated the time course of mind wandering during reading and its dependence on reading motivation. Fourth, we planned to assess interest at various time points in order to examine the possible reciprocal relation between interest and mind wandering. Finally – and fifth – in the course of the project we explored the additional research question of whether there are different types of mind wandering and to what extent these types exert different effects on text learning. So far, the results of our project were documented in three articles. Soemer et al. (2023) reported that more motivated readers reported less mind wandering, more engagement in elaborative thinking and comprehension monitoring, as well as higher topic interest (Goal 1). Furthermore, the beneficial effect of reading motivation on comprehension was partially mediated by mind wandering, elaboration, comprehension monitoring, and interest (Goal 2). The findings offer a novel explanation for the well-known beneficial effects of reading motivation on comprehension: habitually motivated readers are more likely to engage in textrelated thinking and avoid text-unrelated thoughts. Soemer et al. (2024) were devoted to Goal 4. In particular, the findings showed a significant association of situational interest at one point during reading with subsequent instances of mind wandering, and a significant association of mind wandering at one point during reading with subsequent situational interest suggesting a reciprocal relation between the two constructs. In addition, differences in (person-level) topic interest seemed to influence overall levels of both mind wandering and situational interest during reading, while personlevel differences in mind wandering only seemed to influence mind wandering rates during reading. Soemer et al. (2023) investigated the fifth goal of our project and confirmed the existence of “positive-constructive” versus “poor-attention” types of habitual mind wandering. Moreover, the results revealed that some forms of positive-constructive mind wandering were positively associated with text-related thought, whereas poor-attention mind wandering was positively associated with text-unrelated thought. These results add to the literature by emphasizing different types of trait-level mind wandering and their potentially opposite effects on learning.
Publications
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Does mind wandering mediate the effects of habitual reading motivation on comprehension?. Learning and Instruction, 83, 101693.
Soemer, Alexander; Gericke, Christian & Schiefele, Ulrich
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Mind wandering may both promote and impair learning. Memory & Cognition, 52(2), 373-389.
Soemer, Alexander; Gericke, Christian & Schiefele, Ulrich
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Trait-level differences in mind wandering. Paper presented at the International Convention of Psychological Science (ICPS), Brüssel, Belgien
Soemer, A.
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Reciprocal relations between interest and mind wandering.. Journal of Educational Psychology, 117(4), 541-558.
Soemer, Alexander; Gericke, Christian & Schiefele, Ulrich
