Does the medium affect the message? The effect of congruent versus incongruent display on critical reading

Abstract

With the expansion of digital information resources and the increasing amount of books and articles that are available online, people frequently read texts in incongruent reading conditions. That is, text, which was designed to be read from paper, is read online, and vice versa. This study investigated the effect of incongruent reading conditions on critical reading. A group of 80 11th graders were asked to read news items in congruent and in incongruent reading situations. Results show a negative effect of incongruent reading, in which text is converted from one display to another without adjustment. The effect was strongest for reading from a computer screen text that was designed to be read in print. Findings demonstrate the importance of format-specific text design, and suggest that universities, information repositories and other text providers should consider format adjustments in making their texts accessible for readers.