Skip to main content

Scientists say screens hurt our ability to comprehend the information we read

screens hurt reading ability gettyimages 700712379
Getty Images
Do you ever find yourself reading through a scientific article and feeling like your brain is imploding as you try to wrap your head around some of its heavy-duty concepts? It may be the fact that you spend too much time staring at screens!

According to a new piece of research coming out of Pennsylvania State University, adult readers who spend a lot of time using electronic devices turn out to be less adept at understanding scientific texts. Compared to folks who read on paper (which, we believe, is a kind of high-res display made out of wood pulp), people who look at screens for hours each day — whether it’s reading articles, texting, or playing games — find that they pick up only short fragments of information, as opposed to incorporating the information in a more thorough manner.

“Scientific reading is different from casual reading, and it requires the reader to put the science concepts together in a way different from putting stories and plots together,” Ping Li, professor of psychology and linguistics at Penn State, told Digital Trends.

The researchers based their conclusions on studies involving hundreds of participants, recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants were asked to read eight different scientific articles, covering topics including electrical circuits, permutation, GPS, Mars, and supertankers. After reading each article, the participants were then quizzed on 10 multiple choice questions about the article, as well as being asked to sort key terms from the articles into groups. These questions were designed to test both facts and relations between the scientific concepts. The participants additionally provided background information about themselves, such as how often they were engaged in using electronic devices per day for reading and non-reading activities, such as gaming. Their comprehension scores on the questions were then predicted by factors such as the difficulty of the text and their reading habits, using correlation and multiple regression analyses.

But Li isn’t as depressed about schools’ ever-growing focus on using tools like iPads as you might expect. “I’m a big advocate of digital learning using cyber-enabled technologies, so this particular work does not imply that we should not read science on e-devices,” he said. “We could combat some of the negative effects of e-devices by making smart use of them. One example, from our own research, is that 3D-visualization tools provide an excellent platform for understanding scientific concepts.”

Next up, he says he would like the team to drill down on how reading on different electronic devices affects readers. “My hypothesis is that Kindle will yield more similar results as a print book, as compared with reading on an iPhone or iPad,” he told us.

Editors' Recommendations

Luke Dormehl
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
Meet the game-changing pitching robot that can perfectly mimic any human throw
baseball hitter swings and misses

Who’s your favorite baseball pitcher? Shane McClanahan? Sandy Alcantara? Justin Verlander? Whoever you said, two of the top sports-tech companies in the U.S. -- Rapsodo and Trajekt Sports -- have teamed up to build a robot version of them, and the results are reportedly uncannily accurate.

Okay, so we’re not talking about walking-talking-pitching standalone robots, as great a sci-fi-tinged MLB ad as that would be. However, Rapsodo and Trajekt have combined their considerable powers to throw a slew of different technologies at the problem of building a machine that's able to accurately simulate the pitching style of whichever player you want to practice batting against -- and they may just have pulled it off, too.

Read more
The best portable power stations
EcoFlow DELTA 2 on table at campsite for quick charging.

Affordable and efficient portable power is a necessity these days, keeping our electronic devices operational while on the go. But there are literally dozens of options to choose from, making it abundantly difficult to decide which mobile charging solution is best for you. We've sorted through countless portable power options and came up with six of the best portable power stations to keep your smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets functioning while living off the grid.
The best overall: Jackery Explorer 1000

Jackery has been a mainstay in the portable power market for several years, and today, the company continues to set the standard. With three AC outlets, two USB-A, and two USB-C plugs, you'll have plenty of options for keeping your gadgets charged.

Read more
CES 2023: HD Hyundai’s Avikus is an A.I. for autonomous boat and marine navigation
Demonstration of NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

This content was produced in partnership with HD Hyundai.
Autonomous vehicle navigation technology is certainly nothing new and has been in the works for the better part of a decade at this point. But one of the most common forms we see and hear about is the type used to control steering in road-based vehicles. That's not the only place where technology can make a huge difference. Autonomous driving systems can offer incredible benefits to boats and marine vehicles, too, which is precisely why HD Hyundai has unveiled its Avikus AI technology -- for marine and watercraft vehicles.

More recently, HD Hyundai participated in the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, to demo its NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system for recreational boats. The name mashes together the words "neuron" and "boat" and is quite fitting since the Avikus' A.I. navigation tech is a core component of the solution, it will handle self-recognition, real-time decisions, and controls when on the water. Of course, there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes with HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation solution, which we'll dive into below -- HD Hyundai will also be introducing more about the tech at CES 2023.

Read more