Literary Reading on Paper and Screens: Associations Between Reading Habits and Preferences and Experiencing Meaningfulness

The increasing use of digital technologies has implications for reading. Online and on-screen reading often consist of engaging with multiple, short, multimedia snippets of information, whereas longform reading is in decline. Meta-analyses have identified a screen inferiority when reading informational texts, but not narrative texts. The mode effect is explained by reference to the Shallowing Hypothesis, postulating that increased screen reading leads to a propensity to skim and scan rather than carefully read, since digital reading material is typically composed of short, decontextualized snippets of multimedia content rather than long, linear, texts. Experiments have found support for the Shallowing Hypothesis when reading expository/informational texts, but the impact of increased habituation to screens on, specifically, literary reading, is largely unknown. It is plausible that shallow modes of reading, prompted by increased screen use, may compromise one's capacity to engage deeply with literary texts and, in turn, negatively affect readers’ motivation and inclination to engage in slower, more reflective, and more effortful reading. This article presents the results from three experiments exploring associations between reading behavior, medium preferences, and the reading of a short literary text on paper versus screen. Although mixed, the results revealed an overall pattern for the role of medium: more frequent reading of short texts on screen predicted less inclination to muster the cognitive persistence required for reading a longer text, and engage in contemplation on the deeper and personally relevant meaning of the literary text. Educational implications of these findings are discussed.publishedVersio

Writing a synthesis versus reading: strategies involved and impact on comprehension

Little evidence is available regarding the differential impact of reading versus reading and writing on multiple source comprehension. The present study aims to: (1) compare the inferential comprehension performance of students in reading vs. reading/synthesis conditions; (2) explore the impact of performing the tasks on paper vs. on screen with Read&Answer (R&A) software; and (3) explore the extent to which rereading, notetaking, and the quality of the written synthesis can explain student's comprehension scores. For the students in the synthesis condition, we also examined the relationship between the quality of the synthesis they produced and the comprehension they achieved. 155 psychology undergraduates were randomly assigned either to the reading (n=78) or to the reading/synthesis condition (n=77). From this sample, 79 participants carried out the task with the Read&Answer software, and 76 solved the task on paper. All the students took a prior knowledge questionnaire, and read three complementary texts about the conception of intelligence. Students in the reading condition answered an inferential comprehension test, whereas students in the synthesis condition were asked to write a synthesis before taking the same test. Results show no differences in comprehension between students in the four conditions (task and media). There was no significant association between rereading and task condition. However, students in the synthesis condition were more likely to take notes. We found that two of the categories for the quality of the synthesis, textual organization and accuracy of content had an impact on inferential comprehension for the participants who wrote it. The quality of the synthesis mediated between student's prior knowledge and inferential comprehension

Principles of typography for the screen

For the past 500 years humans have been developing means of communication through the development of technology for producing and presenting pages of printed text to the reader. The idea of communicating with letters by the composition of a page grew from traditional manuscript writing of the 15th century to today\u27s electronic portable document for the World Wide Web. But unlike the properties of ink on paper, computers, monitors and electronic documents pose many new and different problems which don\u27t apply to paper. One of the major problems with viewing text on a monitor is resolution. Most monitors today have 72 dots per inch considerably less than the 2400 dots per inch used for print. The second problem associated with on-screen reading is the uncomfortable viewing conditions caused by flicker on a computer monitor. Due to these deficiencies, good font rendering on computer screens is nearly impossible. The purpose of this study was to develop a new set of typographic parameters to compensate for on-screen reading and viewing. By evaluating legibility studies for print and various studies for the legibility of computer monitors, conclusions can be made about how text should be set and arranged for the screen. In this study nine tests were designed to find the preferred characteristics of typography for the screen. The nine factors tested were: typeface, type size, leading, line length, paragraph indent, text format, hyphenation, margins and color. Each characteristic chosen for testing was based upon the viewing conditions of todays computer screens. Three-hundred and eight electronic documents were created and linked together for two testing sessions. The observers were shown various paragraphs of text and were asked to choose which paragraph was more legible to them. The preferences for each observer were marked on each final test page so that the results could be calculated. Based on the results of the testing for this experiment, using the paired comparison method, the hypothesis has been proven to be correct. Out of nine separate tests, seven principles must be changed to ensure legibility for on-screen reading. By further analysis of the results of the testing, the author found that there were no significant differences between what was preferred by male versus female observers

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

The effect of age and font size on reading text on handheld computers

Though there have been many studies of computer based text reading, only a few have considered the small screens of handheld computers. This paper presents an investigation into the effect of varying font size between 2 and 16 point on reading text on a handheld computer. By using both older and younger participants the possible effects of age were examined. Reading speed and accuracy were measured and subjective views of participants recorded. Objective results showed that there was little difference in reading performance above 6 point, but subjective comments from participants showed a preference for sizes in the middle range. We therefore suggest, for reading tasks, that designers of interfaces for mobile computers provide fonts in the range of 8-12 point to maximize readability for the widest range of users

Information seeking retrieval, reading and storing behaviour of library users

In the interest of digital libraries, it is advisable that designers be aware of the potential behaviour of the users of such a system. There are two distinct parts under investigation, the interaction between traditional libraries involving the seeking and retrieval of relevant material, and the reading and storage behaviours ensuing. Through this analysis, the findings could be incorporated into digital library facilities. There has been copious amounts of research on information seeking leading to the development of behavioural models to describe the process. Often research on the information seeking practices of individuals is based on the task and field of study. The information seeking model, presented by Ellis et al. (1993), characterises the format of this study where it is used to compare various research on the information seeking practices of groups of people (from academics to professionals). It is found that, although researchers do make use of library facilities, they tend to rely heavily on their own collections and primarily use the library as a source for previously identified information, browsing and interloan. It was found that there are significant differences in user behaviour between the groups analysed. When looking at the reading and storage of material it was hard to draw conclusions, due to the lack of substantial research and information on the topic. However, through the use of reading strategies, a general idea on how readers behave can be developed. Designers of digital libraries can benefit from the guidelines presented here to better understand their audience

Reviewing the understanding of the effects of spacing on children’s eye movements for on-screen reading

This paper endeavors to consolidate current knowledge and empirical research concerning the use of typography for children’s on-screen reading. This paper is not intended as a full literature review but attempts to raise awareness of the areas required for future investigation. This evaluation indicates a significant gap in the literature of children’s on-screen reading and proposes a need for further investigations in typographical spacing. These future studies need to objectively consider children’s eye movements and the effect of screen based text presentation on children’s comprehension

Text spacing considerations for children’s on-screen reading

This investigation seeks to uncover the insights of three integral and inter-related participants in the creation and use of on-screen reading material for children’s learning. This is an effort to discover what factors are perceived to influence children’s comprehension. Through a design-analyse-refine methodology this researcher discusses a series of typographical considerations relating to space which bear further empirical investigation in the literature. This methodology involved discussion of ideas garnered from four experts. The results of each iteration of the experiment influenced further refinement of the ideas until suitable conclusions were able to be developed by the writer. Testing materials in this experiment adjusted variables for visual separation, including margins, separation of image and type, as well as line spacing, letter spacing and word spacing