INTERACTIONS OF DECODING, WORKING MEMORY, AND MIND WANDERING ON READING COMPREHENSION

Working memory (WM), mind wandering (MW), and task difficulty are all known to influence reading comprehension (RC), but there is little information on how all of these factors interact with one another with regard to RC. Most prior work focuses on adults and thus generalization to children is still needed. Therefore, the goals of this project were to examine the roles of WM, MW, decoding (as a proxy for task difficulty), and their interactions in relation to RC. It was hypothesized that each would demonstrate a significant relationship with the outcome of RC and that they would interact with one another beyond their individual main effects. The sample included 212 6th and 7th grade students with a larger proportion of struggling readers. Correlations and regression were utilized to evaluate the relationships among predictor variables, and with regard to RC, including how predictors moderate one another. All three key predictors demonstrated a significant relationship with RC both via zero-order correlations and main effects in the context of interactive relationships. WM and decoding demonstrated positive relationships with RC and MW demonstrated a negative relationship with RC, though only when one (trait-based) measure of MW was used, rather than a retrospective report measure. There was a significant interaction of decoding and MW on the outcome of RC. Other interactions were not significant. These results clarify the interactive relationships of these three key predictors on the important academic achievement outcome of RC, ultimately suggesting that intervention strategies for achievement problems in areas such as RC should consider MW in conjunction with decoding abilities in order to implement effective strategies that capitalize on individual children’s strengths and build on their particular weaknesses.