Individual differences in task-unrelated thought in university classrooms
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Michael J. Kane, Professor (Creator)
- Paul Silvia, Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: This study investigated what academic traits, attitudes, and habits predict individual differences in task-unrelated thought (TUT)during lectures, and whether this TUT propensity mediates associations between academic individual differences and courseoutcomes (final grade and situational interest evoked by material). Undergraduates (N = 851) from ten psychology classes at twoUS universities responded to thought probes presented during two early-course lectures; they also indicated sitting in the front,middle, or back of the classroom. At each probe, students categorized their thought content, such as indicating on-task thought orTUT. Students also completed online, academic-self-report questionnaires at the beginning of the course and a situational interestquestionnaire at the end. Average TUT rate was 24% but individuals’ rates varied widely (SD = 18%). TUT rates also increasedsubstantially from the front to back of the classroom, and modestly from the first to second half of class periods. Multiple-groupanalyses (with ten classroom groups) indicated that: (a) classroom media-multitasking habits, initial interest in the course topic,and everyday propensity for mind-wandering and boredom accounted for unique variance in TUT rate (beyond other predictors);(b) TUT rate accounted for unique (modest) variance in course grades and situational interest; and (c) classroom media multitasking and propensity for mind-wandering and boredom had indirect associations with course grades via TUT rate, and thesepredictor variables, along with initial interest, had indirect associations with end-of-term situational interest via TUT rate. Someacademic traits and behaviors predict course outcomes in part because they predict off-task thought during class.
Individual differences in task-unrelated thought in university classrooms
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Created on 5/25/2023
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Memory & Cognition (2021) 49
- Language: English
- Date: 2021
- Keywords
- mind-wandering, multitasking, education, learning, interest