Why might learners who have difficulty with executive function experience lesser motivation to read?

• A. They have difficulty with sustaining self-directed action toward future goals
• B. They simply prefer other activities
• C. They have superb reading fluency and don't need motivation
• D. They are always too tired to read

Answer: (A)

Executive function helps us plan, start, and keep working toward goals. When a learner has trouble sustaining self-directed action toward future goals, reading becomes an effortful, self-regulated task. Reading requires initiating the activity, maintaining attention, resisting distractions, and tracking progress until a goal (like finishing a page or chapter) is reached. If those self-regulation processes are weak, the effort to read seems high and the payoff unclear, so motivation to read drops.

Other ideas—like simply preferring other activities—don’t explain why the mental effort of reading feels harder. Having strong reading fluency would usually support motivation rather than reduce it, and saying someone is always too tired overlooks the specific impact of executive-function challenges on starting and sustaining reading.