/lit/ - Literature

PAPER IS BETTER THAN SCREEN

http://www.forskning.no/artikler/2013/mars/350680

Some things are lost in this simplified translation, but here it is for you. It's a bit long:

Several studies show that if you read a text on paper, you get a deeper and more lasting understanding of the content. If you read the same text on a screen, although you also understand the content, you cannot use it as easily in other contexts. The knowledge does not become intrinsic.

The content is erased quickly from your memory. The screen is best for superficial and quick reading.

A new Norwegian survey of tenth graders, by Anne Mangen and her colleagues at the Reading Center at the University of Stavanger, confirms some of these differences between reading on screen and paper.

72 students were divided into two groups. Both groups were given two texts, one fiction and one non-fiction. One group read the texts as pdf files on a typical computer screen, the other on paper. The students' reading skills and vocabulary were mapped in advance so that variations could be corrected for. Then students answered questions that indicated how well they understood the text.

The results clearly showed that comprehension was poorest among the students who read on screen for both the non-fiction and fiction texts.

What could the explanation be?

One difference between screen and paper is that the text on paper is "concrete". You can feel the thickness of the book. You can easily see where it begins and ends. You can quickly scroll through text with your hands. This sensuous, direct experience provides a mental map of the whole text. When you not only see but also touch, the brain has an easier job.


The mental map matters a lot if the text is long, previous research shows. It requires that you be able to navigate quickly and scroll a lot between different places to see connections.

>>2790355
>The Bible is non-fiction

>mfw

>/lit/ in charge of writing

>>1984254
>going on vacation with dumb bitches
>2011

You brought that upon yourself, brother. Don't blame Swift.

>>1889218

>double majoring in English and Computer Sciences

Ninja, is you serious? Get the fuck off of /lit/.