Pathways

Is there a difference between reading on screen and reading on paper in terms of comprehension?

Research published in 2018 by Pablo Delgato and others investigated the different effects on comprehension of reading on paper versus reading from digital devices. They included 54 studies from 2000 to 2017 in their meta-analysis comparing reading comprehension on paper and on screen.

Paper-based reading produced better outcomes. The authors said:

‘Although there are clear advantages of digital-based assessment and learning, including reduced costs and increased individualization, research indicates that there may be disadvantages as well.’

The researchers aimed to make sure their comparisons were sound by selecting ‘digital texts [that] closely resembled the printed versions’. This was to eliminate some of the factors that had made it difficult to draw firm conclusions from earlier studies.

The researchers raised the question about whether ‘increasing exposure to technology, with its emphasis on speed and multitasking, may encourage a shallower kind of processing that leads to a decrease in deep comprehension in digital environments’.

In their meta-analysis, they found that research studies that had used only narrative texts showed that comprehension was not affected, whether the reading was done on paper or on screen. In contrast, in the studies that involved information texts or a mixture of information texts and narratives, paper-based reading was advantageous. However, the researchers felt the finding should be interpreted with caution because their own study used just a small number of comparisons involving only narrative texts.

The researchers concluded:

‘… it is clear that digital-based reading is an unavoidable part of our daily lives and an integral part of the educational realm. Although the current results suggest that paper-based reading should be favoured over digital-based reading, it is unrealistic to recommend avoiding digital devices. Nevertheless, ignoring the evidence of a robust screen inferiority effect may mislead political and educational decisions, and even worse, it could prevent readers from fully benefiting from their reading comprehension abilities and keep children from developing these skills in the first place.’

Delgato, P. et al. (2018) ‘Don’t throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehension’, Educational Research Review, Vol. 25, pp23–38.