Psychology

The purpose of this course is to examine the role of attention in the performance of complex cognitive tasks, in particular, reading comprehension. Our particular focus will be on how attention waxes and wanes during a task, a topic that is sometimes called mind wandering. Mind wandering can occur when our attention is diverted from a task by intrusion of task-unrelated thoughts or when we are bored or fatigued. We will read journal articles that have addressed this topic and we will discuss questions such as How can mind wandering be studied empirically? What factors trigger a mind-wandering episode and what factors determine when attention will be redirected toward the primary task? What processes, if any, operate normally during a mind-wandering episode and what processes are impaired? The class will culminate in a collaborative project involving library research on mind wandering, the development of a research plan examine the topic, and a grant proposal describing the plan.

The class will meet on Fridays, 9am-12:00, in room 102A Young Hall