When I Am in a Good Mood, I Read and Learn Better: An Eye-Movement Study

• In Event: 75.017 - Emotions and Their Role in STEM Learning

Abstract

This study sought to extend current research on the effects of mood induction on online text processing, as revealed by eye-movement indices during reading, and offline text comprehension, as revealed by posttest questions. Seventy-eight undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of three mood induction conditions: Positive, negative, and neutral. To induce mood, participants watched a 12-minute video clip from comedy shows (positive mood), movies (negative mood), and documentaries (neutral mood). As hypothesized, findings revealed that positive-induced readers showed more effective eye-movement patterns with a longer fixation time during the second-pass reading (look-back), and comprehended a science text better than negative-induced readers. Only for participants with a positive mood did the second-pass fixation time positively predict text comprehension.

Authors

• Sara Scrimin, University of Padova

• Veronica Ranon, University of Padova

• Eleonora Danielli, University of Padova

• Lucia Mason, University of Padova