Setting goals and planning for their attainment increases the likelihood that goals will be realized. This is true whether the individual sets his or her own goals or the goals have been set by a teacher or parent. This study explored the role of implementation intentions in setting and achieving voluntary reading goals. Reading motivation, prior reading, and reading ability were examined as predictors of reading behavior. Prior research has primarily used implementation intentions to impact health behavior. The few studies that have addressed academics have demonstrated positive outcomes, although most have involved adult participants.

Fourth-grade students were randomly assigned by classroom to test condition: a) Implementation Intentions and Choice of Reading Material; b) Implementation Intentions and No Choice; c) No Implementation Intentions and Choice; d) No Implementation Intentions and No Choice. The ethnically diverse sample of students (N=175) attended five public schools from widely varying socioeconomic areas. Reading motivation, self-reported voluntary reading, and print exposure were assessed. Students were provided with a magazine and were asked to read it over a five-day period and provide feedback.

Students who formed implementation intentions specifying when and where they would read, obstacles they might face, and what plan they had for overcoming obstacles did not complete more reading than students who did not form implementation intentions, contrary to expectations. The choice of which magazine to read did not result in more magazine reading overall, with exception of girls who formed implementation intentions.

Students with a history of reading nonfiction read more of the nonfiction magazine, as did students who read fiction text on their own time. Implementation intentions and prior reading interacted such that students with a history of reading nonfiction text read more of the fiction magazine when they formed implementation intentions than when they did not. The quality of implementation intentions and the extent to which the plan matched actual behavior were also related to the amount of reading completed. Prior reading was a stronger predictor of reading behavior than reading ability or reading motivation. Results indicated that students can be prompted to read by forming implementation intentions, but the results depend upon the quality of the plan and students' history of prior reading.