Mind-wandering in educational settings

Recently, there has been a growing interest in exploring the influence of mind- wandering on learning in educational settings. In considering the available research on the topic, one might draw the following conclusions: the prevalence of unintentional mind- wandering in classroom settings is high; mindwandering rates increase over time in lectures; and mind- wandering interferes with learning. Although research in the extant literature provides ample support for these conclusions, much of this research was conducted in the laboratory, while participants viewed video- recorded lectures. More recently, however, researchers have examined the effects of intentional and unintentional mind- wandering in live- classroom settings, and, as this chapter reveals, such research has produced some results that are at odds with those produced in laboratory- based studies. The chapter discusses these recent findings in the context of the aforementioned potential conclusions, and concludes that findings from the laboratory do not readily generalize to real- world educational settings.

Duke Scholars

Author Paul Seli Psychology & Neuroscience