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Can reading time predict mind wandering in expository text?
Author(s) -
Naylor Jamie S.,
Sanchez Christopher A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.3393
Subject(s) - mind wandering , reading (process) , psychology , sentence , comprehension , cognitive psychology , reading comprehension , narrative , linguistics , cognition , neuroscience , philosophy
Summary Prior research has suggested that episodes of mind wandering not only negatively impact text comprehension but also are associated with fluctuations in reading behavior. However, these studies typically do not account for differences in the fundamental nature of the text itself, namely, whether it is narrative or expository in structure. As much research has supported the idea that these text genres are processed differently, it is of interest to determine whether similar changes in reading patterns are observed when mind wandering in an expository text. The present study examined whether fluctuations in sentence‐by‐sentence reading times were associated with periods of mindless reading during processing of an expository text. Results indicated that although mindless reading did negatively impact learning, probed reading time did not vary as a function of mind wandering. These results suggest that research aimed at studying mind wandering while reading may need to account for text genre.