Mind wandering and reading comprehension: examining the roles of working memory capacity, interest, motivation, and topic experience

Abstract

Individual differences in mind wandering and reading comprehension were examined in the current study. In particular, individual differences in mind wandering, working memory capacity, interest in the current topic, motivation to do well on the task, and topic experience and their relations with reading comprehension were examined in the current study. Using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling it was found that variation in mind wandering while reading was influenced by working memory capacity, topic interest, and motivation. Furthermore, these same factors, along with topic experience, influenced individual differences in reading comprehension. Importantly, several factors had direct effects on reading comprehension (and mind wandering), while the relation between reading comprehension (and mind wandering) and other factors occurred via indirect effects. These results suggest that both domain-general and domain-specific factors contribute to mind wandering while reading and to reading comprehension.