Attention and Achievement: A Mind Wandering Investigation

University of Houston53 enrolled

Overview

This study assesses the impact of mind-wandering on reading and math.

This study assesses the impact of mind-wandering on reading and math. Specifically 120 middle school student participants will receive descriptive measures (of achievement, attention and related factors including mind-wandering), and will receive a brief (\~30 min) lesson in reading and math (order counterbalanced). Participants will receive a brief pre-test, the lesson, and then a post-test on the reading and math outcomes. 75% of the participants will receive a brief manipulation that sets up the influence of mind-wandering, as well as redirects when probe-caught mind-wandering occurs. The remaining participants will receive only redirects, and only randomly. Among participants to receive the mind-wandering manipulation, an equal number will receive this only for reading, only for math, and for both reading and math.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Attention Disturbances

Interventions

mind-wandering interventionBEHAVIORAL

Participants in this condition receive a brief introduction to the potential impact of mind-wandering (before learning, proactive), and are redirected to lesson if "probe-caught" mind-wandering are endorsed (during learning, reactive)

mind-wandering comparisonBEHAVIORAL

Participants in this condition receive no introduction, and only redirection, and the redirection is random, not in reaction to mind-wandering

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 11 YearsMax age: 15 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * enrollment in schools where we have permission to conduct the study Exclusion Criteria: * students known to be enrolled in separate curricula (e.g., life-skills classes)

Locations (1)

University of Houston

Houston, Texas, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Investigator Developed Items Derived From Reading Content Being Taught

Participants will answer multiple choice questions regarding the reading material being taught, and the key index will the raw score number correct. The investigators call the scale "Sleep and Dreams" (after the content the participant is reading about), and the possible score range will be 0 (min) to 24 (max), with higher scores meaning better comprehension of the material.

Time frame: administered one time immediately following the single reading learning session on day 1

Investigator Developed Items Derived From Math Content Being Taught

Participants will answer multiple choice questions regarding the math material being taught, and the key index will the raw score number correct. The investigators call the scale "Circles" (after the content being taught), and the possible score range will be 0 (min) to 24 (max), with higher scores meaning better comprehension of the material.

Time frame: adminstered one time immediately following the single math learning session on day 1

Secondary Outcomes

Investigator Developed Probe-Caught Mind-Wandering

During the learning (of the reading and math content), participants are prompted on several occasions as to whether their mind was wandering during the lesson. This is a single item multiple/choice scale (called Probe-Caught Mind Wandering), with the range being 0 (min) to 12 (max), with lower scores indicating the better outcome (less mind wandering)

Time frame: On 12 occasions interspersed during each of the math and reading learning sessions, on day 1 only.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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