Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

High-Level and Low-Level Awareness01:19

High-Level and Low-Level Awareness

Controlled processes in human consciousness represent high-alert mental states where individuals deliberately focus their attention on achieving specific goals. Controlled processes can be seen in situations like mastering new technology, where a person might become so absorbed that they ignore surrounding distractions. Such processes involve selective attention, requiring one to concentrate on particular elements of experience while disregarding others. These are governed by executive...
Language and Cognition01:27

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.
Subconsciousness and No Awareness01:15

Subconsciousness and No Awareness

The concept of subconscious awareness refers to the processing of information below the level of conscious thought, which significantly influences both behaviors and decisions. It is also known as waking subconscious awareness. This complex level of cognition operates without the direct awareness of the individual, facilitating rapid and simultaneous handling of multiple information streams.
An illustrative example of subconscious processing is its role in problem-solving. Often, individuals...
Metacognition01:26

Metacognition

Metacognition is a conscious process where individuals are aware of their cognitive and executive processes, such as planning before solving a problem or self-monitoring during reading. For instance, a writer may need help with composing a piece. The situation involves a writer who is working on a piece of writing, but while doing so, they realize that something is missing. They notice that their characters lack depth or details. This realization occurs because the writer is reflecting on their...
Information Processing Approach01:30

Information Processing Approach

The information-processing theory of cognitive development centers on fundamental mental processes, including attention, memory, and problem-solving skills. Researchers in this field examine how cognitive abilities, such as working memory, evolve and influence children's overall development. Studies indicate that children with stronger working memory tend to excel in reading comprehension, math, and problem-solving compared to peers with less efficient memory skills. Low working memory is also...
Learning Disabilities01:25

Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities are cognitive disorders caused by neurological impairments that affect cognitive functions like language and reading, without indicating overall intellectual or developmental challenges. These disabilities differ from global intellectual or developmental disabilities as they are limited to distinct cognitive functions. Common learning disabilities include dysgraphia, dyslexia, and dyscalculia, each of which impacts unique aspects of learning.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Corrigendum to "Investigation of MANF regulation of glioma stemness via STAT3/TGF-β/SMAD4/p38 pathway based on pan-cancer analysis" [Translational Oncology 60 (2025) 102497].

Translational oncology·2026
Same author

Dual-target CAR-T cell therapy: latest updates from the 2025 ASH annual meeting.

Experimental hematology & oncology·2026
Same author

Autophagy-ferroptosis crosstalk in sepsis: metabolic pathways, redox injury, and host-directed antioxidant nanomedicine.

Frontiers in immunology·2026
Same author

Brain-derived HMGB1 mediates periodontal inflammation after ischemic stroke through the STAT3/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway.

International immunopharmacology·2026
Same author

Dual-mode MXene-based biosensor coupled with machine learning: a smart sensing strategy for detection of zearalenone in food.

Analytica chimica acta·2026
Same author

Efficient preparation of size-controlled sodium alginate microspheres <i>via</i> adaptive Bayesian optimization of the spray process.

RSC advances·2026
Same journal

Mind wandering during first- and foreign-language reading.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Lexical word processing is unaffected by rapid invisible frequency tagging in reading: Evidence from eye movements.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Anxiety modulates voluntary attentional orienting to emotional gaze cues: Eye movements for pro- and anti-saccades.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Faster key-press responses to front vowels than back vowels when matching heard vowels with represented vowels.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Testing the interleaving effect without response bias: A forced-choice reevaluation of Kornell and Bjork (2008).

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

The impact of social interaction on abstract concepts.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 15, 2026

Using Eye Movements to Evaluate the Cognitive Processes Involved in Text Comprehension
06:49

Using Eye Movements to Evaluate the Cognitive Processes Involved in Text Comprehension

Published on: January 10, 2014

Mind wandering while reading easy and difficult texts.

Shi Feng1, Sidney D'Mello, Arthur C Graesser

  • 1Psychology Department, University of Memphis, 202 Psychology Building, Memphis, TN 38152-3230, USA. sfeng@memphis.edu

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|January 5, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mind wandering, or attention drifting to unrelated thoughts, occurred more in difficult reading tasks. This mind wandering negatively impacted comprehension, especially for challenging texts.

More Related Videos

Eye-tracking to Distinguish Comprehension-based and Oculomotor-based Regressive Eye Movements During Reading
05:54

Eye-tracking to Distinguish Comprehension-based and Oculomotor-based Regressive Eye Movements During Reading

Published on: October 18, 2018

An Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Ageing on Sentence Processing
04:30

An Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Ageing on Sentence Processing

Published on: October 25, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 15, 2026

Using Eye Movements to Evaluate the Cognitive Processes Involved in Text Comprehension
06:49

Using Eye Movements to Evaluate the Cognitive Processes Involved in Text Comprehension

Published on: January 10, 2014

Eye-tracking to Distinguish Comprehension-based and Oculomotor-based Regressive Eye Movements During Reading
05:54

Eye-tracking to Distinguish Comprehension-based and Oculomotor-based Regressive Eye Movements During Reading

Published on: October 18, 2018

An Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Ageing on Sentence Processing
04:30

An Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Ageing on Sentence Processing

Published on: October 25, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Mind wandering is attention drifting to task-unrelated thoughts.
  • Previous research linked mind wandering frequency to task difficulty and performance, often in simple tasks.
  • Mind wandering impacts easy tasks less but difficult tasks more.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between mind wandering and task difficulty in high-level cognitive tasks, specifically reading comprehension.
  • To test if reading comprehension tasks show a different pattern of mind wandering and difficulty than previously observed.

Main Methods:

  • Participants read standardized texts, either easy or difficult versions.
  • Comprehension questions were administered after each passage.
  • Mind wandering was measured using the probe-caught method.

Main Results:

  • Mind wandering occurred more frequently during the reading of difficult texts compared to easy texts.
  • Mind wandering had a greater negative impact on reading comprehension for difficult texts.
  • Findings contrast with previous studies on simpler tasks but support the hypothesis for reading comprehension.

Conclusions:

  • The relationship between mind wandering, task difficulty, and performance differs across cognitive tasks.
  • Results align with executive-resources and control-failure theories of mind wandering.
  • Findings offer insights into situation models of text comprehension and attentional control.