The link between mind wandering and learning in children

Jessica Cherry; Teresa McCormack; Agnieszka Graham

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105367

The link between mind wandering and learning in children

Jessica Cherry
, Teresa McCormack
, Agnieszka Graham

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

62 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Mind wandering is a common everyday experience during which attention shifts from the here and now; in adults and adolescents, it is associated with poorer performance in educationally significant tasks. This study is the first to directly assess the impact of mind wandering on memory retention in children before the adolescent period. A sample of 97 children aged 6-11 years engaged in a listening activity, and the frequency of mind wandering was measured using intermittent thought probes. Participants then completed a memory retention test. Children reported mind wandering on ∼25% of the thought probes, and frequency did not increase with age. When controlling for the impact of age and vocabulary skills, mind wandering frequency accounted for a large and significant portion of variance in memory scores. Mind wandering frequency also mediated the relation between children's ratings of topic interest and memory scores. The results indicate that mind wandering can be reliably measured in children and is of educational significance.

Original language	English
Article number	105367
Journal	Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Volume	217
Early online date	19 Jan 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105367
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - 1 May 2022

Data Availability Statement

Data for this study are available at the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/3wv5z/?view_only=8b33a94b1e1b4fad817acbc421ec95dc).

Funding

This research was supported by a studentship from the Department for the Economy (Northern Ireland).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 4 Quality Education

Keywords

Mind wandering
Attention
Learning
Memory
child development
Task-unrelated thought

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105367

The_Link_Between_Mind_Wandering_and_Learning_in_ChildrenAuthor Accepted Manuscript, 896 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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AU - McCormack, Teresa

AU - Graham, Agnieszka

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N2 - Mind wandering is a common everyday experience during which attention shifts from the here and now; in adults and adolescents, it is associated with poorer performance in educationally significant tasks. This study is the first to directly assess the impact of mind wandering on memory retention in children before the adolescent period. A sample of 97 children aged 6-11 years engaged in a listening activity, and the frequency of mind wandering was measured using intermittent thought probes. Participants then completed a memory retention test. Children reported mind wandering on ∼25% of the thought probes, and frequency did not increase with age. When controlling for the impact of age and vocabulary skills, mind wandering frequency accounted for a large and significant portion of variance in memory scores. Mind wandering frequency also mediated the relation between children's ratings of topic interest and memory scores. The results indicate that mind wandering can be reliably measured in children and is of educational significance.

AB - Mind wandering is a common everyday experience during which attention shifts from the here and now; in adults and adolescents, it is associated with poorer performance in educationally significant tasks. This study is the first to directly assess the impact of mind wandering on memory retention in children before the adolescent period. A sample of 97 children aged 6-11 years engaged in a listening activity, and the frequency of mind wandering was measured using intermittent thought probes. Participants then completed a memory retention test. Children reported mind wandering on ∼25% of the thought probes, and frequency did not increase with age. When controlling for the impact of age and vocabulary skills, mind wandering frequency accounted for a large and significant portion of variance in memory scores. Mind wandering frequency also mediated the relation between children's ratings of topic interest and memory scores. The results indicate that mind wandering can be reliably measured in children and is of educational significance.

KW - Mind wandering

KW - Attention

KW - Learning

KW - Memory

KW - child development

KW - Task-unrelated thought

UR - https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/publications/the-link-between-mind-wandering-and-learning-in-children

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DO - 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105367

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JO - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

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The link between mind wandering and learning in children

Abstract

Data Availability Statement

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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