A comparison of the comprehension of procedural information using computer and hard-copy media

Users of technical procedures must be able to understand the documents to use them to perform their work. As more companies contemplate putting their procedures on-line, it is important to know whether computer systems will be as effective as traditional hard-copy presentation in communicating procedures to the employees who must use them; To determine whether there is a relationship between computer usage and the comprehension of technical procedures, an experiment was conducted among employees of a scientific and technical company in Las Vegas, Nevada. A control group read and demonstrated its comprehension of hard-copy procedures only, while an experimental group read and demonstrated its comprehension of a hard-copy and then an on-line procedure; The experimental group selected fewer correct answers on a comprehension test for the on-line than for the hard-copy procedure. This suggests that when readers accustomed to the hard-copy medium switch to the computer medium, comprehension decreases

English language readability task performance in a mobile setting - the effect of gender

Mobile computing has become very common in the present day fast changing technological development. It is expected that in future, people will be more mobile than today and all kinds of tasks that are performed in the stationary environment will be undertaken in a mobile environment also. As traffic on the road and also the population are increasing at a very fast pace, the future generation will spend a lot of time in a mobile environment. Therefore, assessment of operators’ performance in a mobile setting will become all the more important. Mobile environment is influenced by vehicular vibration for all kinds of tasks. The present study made an attempt to explore the English language readability performance of a target group. Fourteen subjects (seven males and seven females) from an English language teaching institute were selected for this study. The base line value of reading speed was obtained on the basis of stationary environment reading task performance. Reading speed was noted in the number of words read per minute (NWRPM). The same subjects were used for reading in the vibratory environment and difference in the performance was noticed. A stimulus was presented on a lap-top in both cases. Vibration was assessed on the basis of ISO 2631-1 (1997) guideline. ANOVA statistical tool was used to analyze the data. The result indicated that the performance of operators was significantly affected due to the presence of vibration and text/background color

Digital vs. Print: Reading Comprehension and the Future of the Book

The future of books and libraries is put into question by the increasing popularity of e-books and the use of computers as text platforms. In an effort to anticipate which reading platform—print, e-readers, or computers displays—will dominate in the coming years, recent research and experimental data on the suitability of each reading platform for reading comprehension will be considered, from the perspectives of optical issues, cognition, and metacognition. It will be shown that, while printed books are most conducive to learning from longer, more difficult texts, e-readers and computer displays offer convenience and some distinct advantages to readers in particular situations. This synthesis of current research will be helpful to librarians working in digital and print book purchasing and collection development, as well as those making long-range planning decisions

E-Books: Cognitive and Visual Effects

Sight is incredibly important to daily life. One critical use of this sense is reading, which allows people to communicate and learn new things if the reader is able to effectively comprehend what he or she has read. The proliferation of technology has resulted in much of our reading today being done through digital media. Information-presenting screens are found nearly everywhere, including within the education system. While E-books can offer some advantages, their purpose would not be served if they hindered understanding. Additionally, excessive use of technological devices can bring about symptoms of eyestrain. It was hypothesized that E-books are in fact neither helpful nor harmful in reading comprehension but may increase reading time. In the present study, 40 students at Butler University read a short story either on paper or on a laptop screen. They then took a quiz over the plot events of the short story, either in a physical or digital format. Lastly, they completed a short survey regarding their use of E-books and how their technological interactions affect their vision. It was found that the only factor that affected quiz scores was the testing medium. It is important, then, to ensure that online exams are user-friendly

Intervention for a visual attention span processing deficit in a Greek-speaking child with slow reading speed:Developmental dyslexia and visual attention span processing training

We present the case of TN, aged 9;11, a monolingual Greek-speaking girl with accurate but slow word and non-word reading. Neuropsychological assessment revealed a selective deficit in visual attention (VA) span tasks.  TN had previously taken part in a spelling intervention targeting whole word processing and, although her spelling improved, at the end of the programme her reading remained slow. In the present study, we assessed TN in a lexical decision task with semantic primes, and she showed reduced semantic priming in relation to typically developing readers. TN took part in an intervention aimed at mitigating the VA span processing deficit and similar to a programme previously conducted with a twelve-year-old Greek-speaking boy, RF ([author(s)], 2013). Post-test results for TN revealed a significant improvement in letter report ability as well a reduction in word reading latencies; semantic facilitation was also observed in the priming task following the intervention, although differences were not significant. The results indicate, in line with previous research, an association between visual attention span and reading speed

Nomadic input on mobile devices: the influence of touch input technique and walking speed on performance and offset modeling

In everyday life people use their mobile phones on-the-go with different walking speeds and with different touch input techniques. Unfortunately, much of the published research in mobile interaction does not quantify the influence of these variables. In this paper, we analyze the influence of walking speed, gait pattern and input techniques on commonly used performance parameters like error rate, accuracy and tapping speed, and we compare the results to the static condition. We examine the influence of these factors on the machine learned offset model used to correct user input and we make design recommendations. The results show that all performance parameters degraded when the subject started to move, for all input techniques. Index finger pointing techniques demonstrated overall better performance compared to thumb-pointing techniques. The influence of gait phase on tap event likelihood and accuracy was demonstrated for all input techniques and all walking speeds. Finally, it was shown that the offset model built on static data did not perform as well as models inferred from dynamic data, which indicates the speed-specific nature of the models. Also, models identified using specific input techniques did not perform well when tested in other conditions, demonstrating the limited validity of offset models to a particular input technique. The model was therefore calibrated using data recorded with the appropriate input technique, at 75% of preferred walking speed, which is the speed to which users spontaneously slow down when they use a mobile device and which presents a tradeoff between accuracy and usability. This led to an increase in accuracy compared to models built on static data. The error rate was reduced between 0.05% and 5.3% for landscape-based methods and between 5.3% and 11.9% for portrait-based methods

Controlled Experimentation in Naturalistic Mobile Settings

Performing controlled user experiments on small devices in naturalistic mobile settings has always proved to be a difficult undertaking for many Human Factors researchers. Difficulties exist, not least, because mimicking natural small device usage suffers from a lack of unobtrusive data to guide experimental design, and then validate that the experiment is proceeding naturally.Here we use observational data to derive a set of protocols and a simple checklist of validations which can be built into the design of any controlled experiment focused on the user interface of a small device. These, have been used within a series of experimental designs to measure the utility and application of experimental software. The key-point is the validation checks -- based on the observed behaviour of 400 mobile users -- to ratify that a controlled experiment is being perceived as natural by the user. While the design of the experimental route which the user follows is a major factor in the experimental setup, without check validations based on unobtrusive observed data there can be no certainty that an experiment designed to be natural is actually progressing as the design implies.Comment: 12 pages, 3 table