Comparing Comprehension of a Long Text Read in Print Book and on Kindle: Where in the Text and When in the Story?

Abstract

Digital reading devices such as Kindle differ from paper books with respect to the kinesthetic and tactile feedback provided to the reader, but the role of these features in reading is rarely studied empirically. This experiment compares reading of a long text on Kindle DX and in print. Fifty participants (24 years old) read a 28 page (∼1 h reading time) long mystery story on Kindle or in a print pocket book and completed several tests measuring various levels of reading comprehension: engagement, recall, capacities to locate events in the text and reconstructing the plot of the story. Results showed that on most tests subjects performed identically whatever the reading medium. However, on measures related to chronology and temporality, those who had read in the print pocket book, performed better than those who had read on a Kindle. It is concluded that, basically comprehension was similar with both media, but, because kinesthetic feedback is less informative with a Kindle, readers were not as efficient to locate events in the space of the text and hence in the temporality of the story. We suggest that, to get a correct spatial representation of the text and consequently a coherent temporal organization of the story, readers would be reliant on the sensorimotor cues which are afforded by the manipulation of the book.

Tablet vs book learning: Impact on memory, attention and learning skills

“…A positive correlation is found between the use of textbooks and the episodic, working, visual and factual memory, which is confirmed in the literature 21 . To be able to understand a textbook or an ebook, the long term and short term memory need to be involved 21 . A previous study conducted in 2012, implied that it is easier to recall information read in books than in tablets due to many factors 22 .…”

“…For example, tablets present fewer spatial landmarks, smaller screens that can cause eyestrain. In addition to that, scrolling along text can cause distraction 21 . All of that can negatively influence the memory and eventually affect the comprehension.…”

“…The media used to read and to learn did not seem to affect attention. A study done in 2019 that compared comprehension in reading text in printed books and on a tablet showed that there is no difference in the attention paid in both cases 21 .…”

The medium can influence the message: Print‐based versus digital reading influences how people process different types of written information

“…First, the texts used in both studies were longer than those used in the majority of studies comparing digital versus print reading formats (cf. Mangen & Kuiken, 2014;Mangen, Olivier, & Velay, 2019), offering evidence of generality of the screen inferiority effect.…”

The Multisensory Experience of Handling and Reading Books

“…Print books might also be more effective at conveying information to the reader. This, at least, was the claim made in a study by Mangen et al (2019) that was first reported in the Guardian newspaper in 2014 (see Flood, 2014). Mangen and colleagues apparently found that those readers using a Kindle were less likely to recall events in a mystery novel, a 28-page short story of 10 800 words by Elizabeth George, than those who read the same novel in print format.…”