Scientists have found that printed texts are better than digital ones (5 photos)

The study showed that when reading printed texts, the level of information perception and understanding is 6-8 times greater than when reading digital materials. This conclusion was made by scientists from the University of Valencia, Spain.





Experts from the University of Valencia, Spain, decided to find out how the level of information perception and understanding differs when reading paper and electronic texts. It turns out that it is very different - we understand texts in printed format better than digital ones. Scientists analyzed more than 20 studies on text comprehension from 2000 to 2022, which involved about 470,000 people. Participants read texts in different formats: digital and printed. The results showed that reading printed materials over an extended period of time can increase comprehension and comprehension levels by 6-8 times compared to reading digital texts.



Most often, we read digital texts quickly (for example, posts on social networks), so the information is not fully absorbed. Moreover, digital texts are often superficial:

"The linguistic quality of digital texts is generally lower than the quality of printed texts. Texts on social networks, for example, can be conversational and lack complex syntax and argumentation. They are more superficial and are often skimmed. As a result, the reader is not fully becomes immersed in the narrative or fails to grasp complex relationships in informational text,” said Ladislao Salmeron, a professor at the University of Valencia and co-author of the study.





One study involved elementary and middle school students. Experts have found that elementary school students understand less of what they read on digital devices compared to high school students. This may be because younger children are less able to cope with distractions, such as pop-up notifications on a device. The authors also stated that children who read frequently digitally may learn less academic vocabulary at important stages of learning.



At the same time, according to Ladislao Salmeron, no matter what text you read - a post on social networks or an article on Wikipedia - the level of perception will be significantly lower than when reading printed material. At the same time, scientists do not oppose digital texts:

"We've found that reading digital texts simply doesn't provide the same benefits as reading print. We recommend that schools and school leaders place greater emphasis on reading print, especially for young students," said Lydia Altamura, a graduate student and co-author of the study.