Different reading devices, different modes of reading?
A pioneer study on reading devices vs. paper
2011-10-22
(Press-News.org) A book or a screen – which of these two offers more reading comfort? There are no disadvantages to reading from electronic reading devices compared with reading printed texts. This is one of the results of the world's first reading study of its kind undertaken by the Research Unit Media Convergence of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in cooperation with MVB Marketing- und Verlagsservice des Buchhandels GmbH. "E-books and e-readers are playing an increasingly important role on the worldwide book market. However, readers in Germany are particularly skeptical when it comes to e-books and electronic reading devices. The objective of the study was to investigate whether there are reasons for this skepticism," says the initiator of the study, Professor Dr. Stephan Füssel, chair of the Gutenberg-Institute of Book Studies and spokesperson for the Media Convergence Research Unit at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. "This study provides us with a scientific basis for dispelling the widespread misconception that reading from a screen has negative effects," explains Füssel. "There is no (reading) culture clash – whether it is analog or digital, reading remains the most important cultural technology."
However, the result of the study stands in stark contrast with the participants' subjective reaction. "Almost all of the participants stated that they liked reading a printed book best. This was the dominant subjective response, but it does not match the data obtained from the study," specifies Professor Dr. Matthias Schlesewsky, Head of the Research Group Neurocognition of Language Universals of the Department of English and Linguistics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, who designed and conducted the study together with Professor Füssel. In fact, tablet PCs actually provide an advantage over e-ink readers and the printed page that is not consciously perceivable: the information is processed more easily when a tablet PC is employed. Furthermore, while there were no differences between the three media employed in terms of rates of reading by the younger participants, the older participants exhibited faster reading times when using the tablet PC.
Similarly, the participants' subjective perceptions did not match the results of a comparison of e-ink readers and printed paper texts. Almost all participants stated that reading from paper was more comfortable than from an e-ink reader despite the fact that the study actually showed that there was no difference in terms of reading performance between reading from paper and from an e-ink reader. "We have thus demonstrated that the subjective preference for the printed book is not an indicator of how fast and how well the information is processed," concludes Professor Schlesewsky.
The co-initiator and cooperating partner institution of the study is MVB Marketing- und Verlagsservice des Buchhandels GmbH, operator of the e-book platform libreka!. "We are pleased to have had the opportunity to work with and support Mainz University in this one-of-a-kind study. As a subsidiary of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V.), we have established the prerequisites for publishing companies and bookstores to adapt to the digital age by setting up the libreka! platform. Shaping the market is important to us, and that also includes understanding the readers' needs," states Ronald Schild, CEO of MVB, explaining the reasons for the organization's participation in the study.
The study analyzed the differences in reading from various kinds of media (e-book, tablet PC, paper) in two sample groups, young and elderly adults. Each participant read various texts with different levels of complexity on an e-book reader (Kindle 3), on a tablet PC (iPad), and on paper. The reading behavior and the participants' corresponding neural processes were assessed by means of concurrent measures of eye movements (eye tracking) and electrophysiological brain activity (EEG). The criteria that were taken into account and analyzed were changes in the theta frequency band power, reading behavior, text comprehension, and information recall as well as the participants' preferences for the respective medium.
INFORMATION:
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2011-10-22
A healthy diet is especially important during the menopause – a period in which the risk of suffering from health problems increases. Various studies analyse the diet of peri- and postmenopausal women in Spain alongside the troubles that come with this transition. The results show that all of those groups studied have a deficient intake of vitamin D.
Marina Pollán, researcher at the Carlos III Institute of Health and one of the authors of the study explains that "biological and physiological changes in women caused by the menopause come with a greater risk of developing ...
2011-10-22
SDC and Party Erotique come together again to bring you "Party Erotique Dallas" at the Aloft Saturday, October 29th, 2011. Doors open at 9pm and *masks are required* for entry. The Aloft is located at 1033 Young St in downtown Dallas. Advance ticket purchases are only $30 and if purchased the day of the event $50.
Make it an Erotique Halloween Weekend and purchase a package starting at only $199 per couple. Packages include accommodations for two at Starwood's flagship Aloft Hotel, admission to afternoon educational seminars and demos, two tickets to Party ...
2011-10-22
"It will be the first non-destructive method. This means that measurements can be taken in closed packaging and the gas composition over time can be checked. This will make it possible to check a much higher number of products than at present", says Märta Lewander, Doctor of Atomic Physics at Lund University in Sweden.
Dr Lewander developed the technique in her thesis and now works as chief technical officer for the company Gasporox, which is commercialising the technology.
Today, spot checks are performed on individual samples, with the risk that damaged products ...
2011-10-22
"It is hoped that this reconstruction is a good likeness and that, if someone who knew him in life had been presented with this restoration, they would hopefully have recognised the face", says Jenny Barber, an MSc student at the University of Dundee in Scotland.
She has scientifically rebuilt the face of the strong and stocky Viste Boy, who lived in the Vistehola cave near Stavanger, so that people can now look him right in the eye.
Ms Barber is studying forensic art, an unusual discipline embracing such elements as human anatomy and identification in order to recreate ...
2011-10-22
Steel City Displays, a full service custom exhibit house located in Phoenixville, PA, is pleased to announce that their valued client Saint-Gobain's Creative Services Group, won a prestigious 2011 Graphic Design USA award.
Creative Services was honored for their design of the Saint-Gobain Corporate Communications display kiosks that were featured at the 2011 AIA (American Institute of Architects) Show. Steel City Displays designed and fabricated the custom built exhibits.
Commenting on the award, Bob Heck, President of Steel City Displays, said, "We are thrilled ...
2011-10-22
Sheep's head is not for wimps. Until now very few of us have been tempted by this traditional Norwegian dish.
"It's a pity, because you will really have to look far and wide for a more tasty traditional dish," says Professor Reidar Mykletun at the Norwegian School of Hotel Management at the University of Stavanger.
"With good potatoes, rutabaga mash, beer and aquavit sheep's head is a tempting experience for genuine lamb enthusiasts. But sheep's head is an example of a dish that is scary for many of us. With both ears, mouth, teeth, tongue and eyes looking at you from ...
2011-10-22
Culture is not a trait that is unique to humans. By studying orangutan populations, a team of researchers headed by anthropologist Michael Krützen from the University of Zurich has demonstrated that great apes also have the ability to learn socially and pass them down through a great many generations. The researchers provide the first evidence that culture in humans and great apes has the same evolutionary roots, thus answering the contentious question as to whether variation in behavioral patterns in orangutans are culturally driven, or caused by genetic factors and environmental ...
2011-10-22
A paper from the National Institutes of Health in the United States has evaluated the separate and combined effects of the frequency of alcohol consumption and the average quantity of alcohol drunk per occasion and how that relates to mortality risk from individual cancers as well as all cancers. The analysis is based on repeated administrations of the National Health Interview Survey in the US, assessing more than 300,000 subjects who suffered over 8,000 deaths from cancer. The research reports on total cancer deaths and deaths from lung, colorectal, prostate, and breast ...
2011-10-22
Using a simple, single-step process, engineers and scientists at the University of California at Berkeley recently developed a technique to direct benign, filamentous viruses called M13 phages to serve as structural building blocks for materials with a wide range of properties.
By controlling the physical environment alone, the researchers caused the viruses to self-assemble into hierarchically organized thin-film structures, with complexity that ranged from simple ridges, to wavy, chiral strands, to truly sophisticated patterns of overlapping strings of material--results ...
2011-10-22
Banishing unsightly and aging "bingo wings" is easy with the new range of Mary Portas Armery from MyTights.com. In a survey by Charnos, women over 40 identified their upper arms as their number one problem area but now retail guru Mary Portas and hosiery manufacturer Charnos have joined forces to develop a new and stylish way to disguise and sculpt your upper arms - Armery.
Research earlier this year showed that 75% of women over 40 hated their wobbly upper arms more than any other part of their body. Shapewear solutions exist for all parts of the body but ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Different reading devices, different modes of reading?
A pioneer study on reading devices vs. paper
