The inattentive on-screen reading: Reading medium affects attention and reading comprehension under time pressure

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Technology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• The medium of reading (print vs. digital screen) can influence cognitive processes.
• Time constraints during reading tasks may interact with the reading medium to affect performance.
• Understanding these interactions is crucial for optimizing learning and information processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how reading medium (print vs. screen) and time-frame (free vs. pressured) affect on-task attention, metacognitive calibration, and reading comprehension.
• To examine the impact of these conditions on mindwandering and performance prediction.
• To determine if reading on screen under time pressure leads to shallower information processing.

Main Methods:

• One hundred and forty undergraduates participated in a 2x2 factorial design study.
• Experimental conditions varied reading medium (print vs. screen) and reading time-frame (free vs. pressured).
• Measures included mindwandering, metacognitive calibration (performance prediction), and text comprehension.

Main Results:

• In-print readers showed less mindwandering under pressured time, indicating better task adaptation compared to on-screen readers.
• On-screen readers in the pressured condition exhibited significantly lower text comprehension than other groups.
• Mindwandering and comprehension were similar across media in the free time condition; metacognitive calibration did not differ across groups.

Conclusions:

• Reading on screen under time constraints can lead to shallower information processing and reduced comprehension.
• Print media may facilitate better cognitive control and task adaptation, especially under pressure.
• Metacognitive awareness of performance is not significantly altered by reading medium or time pressure in this context.