ABSTRACT

We zone out roughly 20-40% of the time during reading – a rate that is concerning given the negative relationship between mind-wandering and comprehension. We tested if Eye-Mind Reader – an intelligent interface that targeted mind-wandering as it occurred – could mitigate its negative impact on reading comprehension. When an eye-gaze-based classifier indicated that a reader was mind-wandering, those in a MW-Intervention condition were asked to self-explain the concept they were reading about. If the self-explanation quality was deemed subpar by an automated scoring mechanism, readers were asked to re-read parts of the text in order to correct their comprehension deficits and improve their self-explanation. Each participant in the MW-Intervention condition was paired with a Yoked-Control counterpart who received the exact same interventions regardless of whether they were mind-wandering. Results indicate that re-reading improved self-explanation quality for the MW-Intervention group, but not the control group. The two conditions performed equally well on textbase (i.e. fact-based) and inference-level comprehension questions immediately after reading. However, after a week-long delay, the MW-Intervention condition significantly outperformed the yoked-control condition on both comprehension assessments (ds = .352 and .307). Our findings suggest that real-time interventions during critical periods of mind-wandering can promote long-term retention and comprehension.

摘要

阅读期间，我们大约划出20-40％的时间，考虑到游荡与理解之间的负相关关系，这一比率令人担忧。我们测试了Eye-Mind Reader（一种针对出现流浪现象的智能界面）是否可以减轻其对阅读理解的负面影响。当基于目光的分类器表明读者在徘徊时，处于MW干预状态的人们被要求自我解释他们正在阅读的概念。如果自动计分机制认为自我解释的质量不及标准，则要求读者重新阅读部分文字，以纠正他们的理解力不足并提高自我解释的能力。MW干预条件下的每位参与者都与Yoked-Control配对对象配对，后者接受了完全相同的干预措施，无论他们是否在徘徊。结果表明，重读可以改善MW干预组的自我解释质量，但不能改善对照组的自我解释质量。阅读后，这两个条件在文本库（即基于事实）和推理级别的理解问题上的表现均相当好。然而，经过两个星期的评估，在经过一周的延误后，MW干预条件明显胜过了轭铁控制条件（阅读后立即基于事实）和推理级别的理解问题。然而，经过两个星期的评估，在经过一周的延误后，MW干预条件明显胜过了轭铁控制条件（阅读后立即基于事实）和推理级别的理解问题。然而，经过两个星期的评估，在经过一周的延误后，MW干预条件明显胜过了轭铁控制条件（ds =  .352和.307）。我们的研究结果表明，在精神流浪的关键时期进行实时干预可以促进长期保留和理解。