Construction of Cognitive Maps to Improve Reading Performance by Text Signaling: Reading Text on Paper Compared to on Screen

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Zifu Shi¹  Ting Tang¹  Lin Yin¹ 

[1] Department of Psychology, School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University;Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province, Hunan Normal University;Hunan Normal University Library, Hunan Normal University

关键词: physical signaling;    verbal signaling;    cognitive map;    on-screen reading;    paper reading;    navigation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.571957

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Reading text from a screen has been shown to be less effective compared with reading text from paper. Various signals may provide both background information and navigational cues, and may promote the construction of cognitive maps during on-screen reading, thus improving reading performance. This study randomly divided 75 college students into a paper reading group and an on-screen reading group. Both groups were tested for navigation and reading comprehension in response to three different forms of signaling (plain text, physical signaling, and verbal signaling). The results showed that when plain text was presented, the navigation and comprehension scores of the paper reading group were significantly higher than those of the on-screen reading group. However, no significant difference was found between both groups under signaling conditions. The navigation and comprehension scores of both groups were significantly higher under signaling conditions than under plain text. Moreover, the comprehension score of the on-screen reading group under physical signaling was significantly higher than that under verbal signaling. This research suggested that signals help to construct cognitive maps and effectively improve reading performance. Besides, physical signaling, such as underlining and bold formatting, is more effective for on-screen reading. The present study provides a practical and effective approach for improving on-screen reading based on cognitive map theory.

【 授权许可】

CC BY