The Effects of Mind Wandering on Chinese Reading Performance

Abstract

Abstract: In this study, 36 college students were selected, and when the subjects to read Chinese materials to explore the effects of mind wandering on reading accuracy and reading time by using the method of probe-caught and sentence-by-sentence reading paradigm. The results showed: 1)Mind wandering occupy around 34.80% of the time in Chinese reading task; 2)Mind wandering affect reading comprehension, reducing the accuracy rate of reading comprehension; 3)Mind wandering lead to slower reading times. Collectively, these findings confirm that mind wandering has an impact on Chinese reading performance, reducing the accuracy rate of reading comprehension and leading to slower reading times.

Key words: mind wandering, reading performance, reading comprehension, reading time, Chinese

摘要： 选取36名大学生被试,采用探针检测的方法和逐句阅读范式,考察被试阅读中文材料时走神对阅读正确率和阅读时间的影响。结果发现：（1）中文阅读中出现走神的时间占34.80%;（2）走神会影响阅读理解,降低阅读理解正确率;（3）走神会导致阅读时间变慢。这些发现均证实走神对中文阅读绩效有影响,降低阅读理解正确率和减缓阅读时间。

关键词: 走神, 阅读绩效, 阅读理解, 阅读时间, 中文

CLC Number:

B842.7

Wu Guolai, Zhou Man, Yin Xiaojuan, Li Haiying, Li Jiaohua. The Effects of Mind Wandering on Chinese Reading Performance[J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2017, 15(3): 329-334.

吴国来, 周曼, 阴晓娟, 李海英, 李娇花. 走神对中文阅读绩效的影响[J]. 心理与行为研究, 2017, 15(3): 329-334.

References

1 胡楠荼, 许百华.(2012). 心智游移的研究: 理论, 方法及进展. 应用心理学, 18(1), 40-49.
2 宋晓兰, 唐孝威.(2015). 人类意识流的重要构成部分——心智游移. 自然杂志, 37(1), 8-16.
3 吴国来, 高原.(2015). 阅读中的“心不在焉”现象及其研究方法. 心理与行为研究, 13(4), 563-569.
4 吴国来, 高原, 周曼.(2016). 阅读中的“心不在焉”：理论假设和影响因素. 心理科学进展, 24(2), 196-202.
5 Antrobus, J. S.(1968). Information theory and stimulus-independent thought. British Journal of Psychology, 59(4), 423-430.
6 Feng, S., D′Mello, S., & Graesser, A. C.(2013). Mind wandering while reading easy and difficult texts. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20(3), 586-592.
7 Foulsham, T., Farley, J., & Kingstone, A.(2013). Mind wandering in sentence reading: Decoupling the link between mind and eye. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67(1), 51-59.
8 Frank, D. J., Nara, B., Zavagnin, M., Touron, D. R., & Kane, M. J.(2015). Validating older adults′ reports of less mind-wandering: An examination of eye movements and dispositional influences. Psychology & Aging, 30(2), 266-278.
9 Franklin, M. S., Mrazek, M. D., Anderson, C. L., Johnston, C., Smallwood, J., & Kingstone, A., & Schooler, J. W.(2017). Tracking distraction: The relationship between mind-wandering, meta-awareness, and ADHD symptomatology. Journal of Attention Disorders, 21(6), 475-486.
10 Franklin, M. S., Smallwood, J., & Schooler, J. W.(2011). Catching the mind in flight: Using behavioral indices to detect mindless reading in real time. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18(5), 992-997.
11 Giambra, L. M., & Grodsky, A.(1989). Task-Unrelated images and thoughts while reading. In J. E. Shorr, P. Robin, J. A. Connella, & M. Wolpin(Eds.), Imagery(pp.27-31). Springer US.
12 Grodsky, A., & Giambra, L. M.(1990). The consistency across vigilance and reading tasks of individual differences in the occurrence of task-unrelated and task-related images and thoughts. Imagination Cognition & Personality, 10(1), 39-52.
13 Luke, S. G., & Henderson, J. M.(2013). Oculomotor and cognitive control of eye movements in reading: Evidence from mindless reading. Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 75(6), 1230-1242.
14 Reichle, E. D., Reineberg, A. E., & Jw., S.(2010). Eye movements during mindless reading. Psychological Science, 21(9), 1300-1310.
15 Schad, D. J., Nuthmann, A., & Engbert, R.(2012). Your mind wanders weakly, your mind wanders deeply: Objective measures reveal mindless reading at different levels. Cognition, 125(125), 179-194.
16 Schooler, J. W., Reichle, E. D., & Halpern, D. V.(2004). Zoning out while reading: Evidence for dissociations between experience and metaconsciousness. In: D. T. Levin(ED.), Thinking and seeing: Visual metacognition in adults and children(pp. 203-226). Cambridge: MIT Press.
17 Schupak, C., & Rosenthal, J.(2009). Excessive daydreaming: A case history and discussion of mind wandering and high fantasy proneness. Consciousness & Cognition, 18(1), 290-292.
18 Smallwood, J.(2011). Mind-wandering while reading: Attentional decoupling, mindless reading and the cascade model of inattention. Language and Linguistics Compass, 5(2), 63-77.
19 Smallwood, J., Fishman, D. J., & Schooler, J. W.(2007). Counting the cost of an absent mind: Mind wandering as an underrecognized influence on educational performance. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14(2), 230-236.
20 Smallwood, J., McSpadden, M., & Schooler, J. W.(2007). The lights are on but no one′s home: Meta-awareness and the decoupling of attention when the mind wanders. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14(3), 527-533.
21 Smallwood, J., Mcspadden, M., & Schooler, J. W.(2008). When attention matters: The curious incident of the wandering mind. Memory & Cognition, 36(6), 1144-1150.
22 Smallwood, J., & Schooler, J. W.(2006). The restless mind. Psychological Bulletin and Review, 132(6), 946-958.
23 Smallwood, J., & Schooler, J. W.(2015). The science of mind wandering: Empirically navigating the stream of consciousness. Annual Review of Psychology, 66(1), 487-518.
24 Smilek, D., Carriere, J. S., & Cheyne, J. A.(2010). Out of mind, out of sight: Eye blinking as indicator and embodiment of mind wandering. Psychological Science, 21(6), 786-789.
25 Song, X., & Wang, X.(2011). Mind wandering in chinese daily lives: An experience sampling study. Plos One, 7(9), 168-168.
26 Spronken, M., Holland, R. W., Figner, B., & Dijksterhuis, A.(2016). Temporal focus, temporal distance, and mind-wandering valence: Results from an experience sampling and an experimental study. Consciousness & Cognition, 41, 104-118.
27 Uzzaman, S., & Joordens, S.(2011). The eyes know what you are thinking: Eye movements as an objective measure of mind wandering. Consciousness & Cognition, 20(4), 1882-1886.
28 Varao Sousa, P.(2015). Re-engaging with reading material after a mind wandering episode. Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia.

[1]	TONG Wen, YU Xue, LIU Zhifang, ZHU Xingyu, QI Qi. Differences in Contextual Information Utilization Between Fast and Slow Readers: The Role of Processing Depth [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2022, 20(4): 450-456.
[2]	ZHANG Manman, HU Huilan, BIAN Han, LI Fang, ZHANG Zhichao, ZANG Chuanli. Word Frequency Effects in Fast and Slow Readers During Skilled Chinese Reading [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2022, 20(3): 304-310.
[3]	WANG Yongsheng, HE Liyuan, LI Xin, BAI Xuejun. The Role of the First Character Frequency in Low-Frequency Two-Character Words in Parafoveal Processing in Chinese Reading [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2022, 20(3): 311-317.
[4]	LIANG Feifei, XIANG Ying, LONG Mengling. Initial Character Positional Probability Does Not Influence Word Segmentation in Chinese Reading: Evidence from Parafoveal Processing [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2022, 20(3): 318-324.
[5]	HE Liyuan, ZHAO Xing, BAI Yu, LIU Nina. Multi-Word Unit Processing for Chinese Older Readers: Evidence from Eye Movements [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2022, 20(2): 160-166.
[6]	GU Junjuan, GAO Zhihua, MA Shaoyang. The Sub-Word Boundary Effect of Chinese Character Position Processing in Incremental Words [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2022, 20(1): 1-7.
[7]	LIANG Feifei, XIANG Ying, WU Hao, HAN Yang. The Development of Word Boundary Marking in Chinese Children with Developmental Dyslexia [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2021, 19(6): 757-763.
[8]	ZHANG Di, ZHAO Wei, LI Li, GAO Guili. Measurement of Word Awareness and Its Predictability to Early Reading Development [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2021, 19(6): 771-778.
[9]	ZHU Huan, XIE Xiaowei, DAI Zheru, TANG Xiaoya, ZANG Jian, WU Jiao, ZANG Xuelian. Semantic Information Takes Precedence over Spatial Location and Glyph Feature in Contextual Cueing with Chinese Characters [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2021, 19(5): 577-584.
[10]	LIU Zhifang, ZENG Taishen, CHAI Lin, CHEN Chaoyang, TONG Wen. The Characteristics of Word Processing When Deaf Readers Read Chinese: Evidences from Disappearing Text [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2021, 19(5): 592-598.
[11]	LI Yunsong, CHEN Qiyang, WU Yan, LI Tianhong, DUAN Rujun. The Dominant Role of Semantic Radicals in Chinese Phonogram Recognition [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2021, 19(4): 439-446.
[12]	CHEN Zixun, LI Jinwen, SONG Wenli, LIU Xia. The Effects of Peer Victimization on Adolescents’ Well-Being in the Context of Parent-Child Separation: A Longitudinal Study [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2021, 19(4): 493-499.
[13]	GAO Xiaolei, SHEN Meng, REN Xiaofei, BAI Xuejun, GAO Lei. The Perceptual Span and Parafoveal Preview Effect of Tibetan-Chinese Readers with High and Low Chinese Level in Reading Chinese [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2021, 19(3): 297-303,333.
[14]	HE Fei, LIANG Feifei, BAI Xuejun. Semantic Radical Category Consistency Effect in Chinese Incidental Vocabulary Learning [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2021, 19(3): 304-311.
[15]	YU Jinwang, MENG Zhu, QIN Zhao, DENG Zhizhou, ZHAO Shaochen, YAN Guoli. The Effect of Irrelevant Speech on Chinese Word Processing [J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2020, 18(5): 611-617.