Technology in reading: ebooks
DIGITAL PSYCHOLOGY – (Nr. 53) Ebook or paper book: which do we prefer?
When the first digital books made their appearance, it seemed inevitable that they would replace their paper counterparts; they are cheaper, comfortable, practical. Yet this is not the case. Even though we can read on smartphones, tablets and e-readers, having a paper volume in our hands remains a unique experience. The two reading modes coexist and, for readers, have different purposes and functions which also depend on the context and type of text (Spjeldnæs, 2022). Reading is not limited to decoding and understanding culturally established symbols; it is a process that involves critical reasoning, thinking, opinion formation and the development of imaginative skills; it is one of the fundamental expressions of the human intellect that is cultivated from childhood.
There reading it involves a series of cognitive processes, such as memorization and attention, and sensory, sight and touch, which are stimulated differently depending on the medium (Schwabe et al., 2022).
How does digital technology change readers’ habits? Are there differences in understanding when reading the same text on screen or on paper?
The difference between digital and paper reading
Leafing through a book is a completely different thing than swiping on an e-reader: the content will be identical, but the way in which it is used is different. We can say that paper and digital books offer different affordances. Affordances are the properties of an object that “invite” people to an action, which enable or constrain what can be done with that object; this concept refers to the relationship between an object and its specific properties (Gibson, 1977).
What are the affordances of a digital book? Hyperlinks, multimedia and interactive content, ‘navigation’ through scroll bars and internal links, functions such as dictionaries, font editing and lighting. A paper book “invites” the action of being browsed and enjoyed according to a well-defined order and structure; even just consulting the notes at the end of the chapter requires proactive behavior on the part of the reader and one cannot “exit” the text, for example by connecting to a bookshop or online store as with an e-reader (Schwabe et al., 2022).
These differences imply the adoption of new cognitive strategies to process information; from a sensorimotor and cognitive point of view the two forms of reading, digital and analogue, are not equivalent (Dani, 2023). And the reader knows this well: adapt the reading style to the medium. In fact, digital reading is preferred for narrative texts that have a greater emotional impact than, for example, educational texts (Spjeldnæs et al., 2022).
Ebooks and paper books: metacognition
What changes are precisely the reading processes: reading on paper requires more certain metacognitive strategies, including monitoring and self-regulation. Comparing using an eye-tracking technique how readers approach the two reading modes, Jian (2022) showed that when reading a paper book, people focus more selectively and intentionally on the text, thus understanding it better. This could be due, as the theory of textual landscapes claims, to the fact that a printed text helps readers build a clearer mental representation which facilitates learning and remembering information. It cannot be ruled out that this will change over time and with the new generations, accustomed from an early age to dealing with digital reading. In fact, it is something that has been studied with subjects born and raised with paper books who, only later and already as adults, introduced digital reading. Therefore the fact that printed texts are used and memorized more carefully may be due to the experiences gained in this sense, i.e. the association of printed text with study text.
But there is also another factor to consider: distraction. A digital book offers various stimuli that can distract you from the text itself, just because you are connected to the Internet. Even e-readers, designed to simulate the experience of reading a printed book as faithfully as possible, are connected; while if we read on a computer, tablet or smartphone we are even more exposed to distracting stimuli, such as notifications from apps. Digital devices are an “ecosystem of interruptive technologies”, a set of digital distractions that can hinder immersion in reading (Dani, 2023).
Do we prefer ebooks or paper books?
For the reader, the essential thing is the sensation of being immersed in the text; when you are motivated, any digital interferences take a back seat (Spjeldnæs et al., 2022). The most passionate and expert readers move easily between paper and ebooks adapting their habits to different situations. The preference for one mode or the other seems to depend more on the purpose than on the medium used: they tend to prefer paper books for the works that they consider most significant, with a complex and profound narrative structure; at the same time they appreciate the practical advantages offered by ebooks and digital devices, such as accessibility and customization, making them a valid choice for lighter, more escapist reading.
Fiction has a different function than a scientific text: if the former is capable of evoking emotions and stimulating the imagination, the latter is intended for learning knowledge and skills. Although the general idea is that, sooner or later, digital texts will completely replace analogue ones (Dani, 2023), paper books continue to be widely appreciated. Why does this happen? Why do we still read printed books? Because reading does not only respond to the need to acquire information; it’s leisure, an escape from everyday life to immerse yourself in fantastic worlds. And what better way to do that than by disconnecting for a bit? A paper book is just that, a small moment of escape.
