We assessed mind wandering (MW) during film comprehension. We predicted that prior-knowledge would aid in theconstruction of a situation model of the film, which would suppress MW by directing attention towards task-related thoughts,and that interest would moderate this effect. In our experiment, 108 participants either read a short story that depicted the plot(i.e., prior-knowledge condition) or read an unrelated story of equal length (control condition) prior to viewing the 32.5 minutefilm The Red Balloon. Participants self-reported their interest in viewing the film immediately before the film presentationand reported self-caught instances of MW while viewing the film. The prior-knowledge condition reported less MW comparedto the control condition. MW also decreased over the course of the film, but only for the prior-knowledge condition, therebysuggesting a suppression effect. Finally, prior-knowledge effects on MW were only observed when interest was average orhigh.

Perceptual disfluency of a text can operate as a desirable difficulty, presumably because it leads to better comprehen-sion. However, little is known about what cognitive mechanisms support this benefit. Here, we investigate whether sustainedattention, as measured by reports of mind wandering (i.e., lapses in attention) during reading, mediates the relationship be-tween disfluency and text comprehension. We manipulated the typeface (fluent: Arial; disfluent: Comic Sans) of two textson research methods. A total of 208 participants recruited online read either one of these texts, either in a fluent or disfluenttypeface, followed by a series of text level and inference level comprehension questions. We found that mind wandering wasless frequent when participants read disfluent text. Importantly, our results show that the relationship between disfluency andtext level comprehension was indirectly mediated by mind wandering, suggesting that sustained attention is one of the cognitivemechanisms by which disfluency influences comprehension.

The Library of Integrated Network-Based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) is an NIH Common Fund program that catalogs how human cells globally respond to chemical, genetic, and disease perturbations. Resources generated by LINCS include experimental and computational methods, visualization tools, molecular and imaging data, and signatures. By assembling an integrated picture of the range of responses of human cells exposed to many perturbations, the LINCS program aims to better understand human disease and to advance the development of new therapies. Perturbations under study include drugs, genetic perturbations, tissue micro-environments, antibodies, and disease-causing mutations. Responses to perturbations are measured by transcript profiling, mass spectrometry, cell imaging, and biochemical methods, among other assays. The LINCS program focuses on cellular physiology shared among tissues and cell types relevant to an array of diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and neurodegenerative disorders. This Perspective describes LINCS technologies, datasets, tools, and approaches to data accessibility and reusability.