Neurocognition of Language Lab, Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 May 22;19(5):e0290807. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290807. eCollection 2024.
We report the first use of ERP measures to identify text engagement differences when reading digitally or in print. Depth of semantic encoding is key for reading comprehension, and we predicted that deeper reading of expository texts would facilitate stronger associations with subsequently-presented related words, resulting in enhanced N400 responses to unrelated probe words and a graded attenuation of the N400 to related and moderately related words. In contrast, shallow reading would produce weaker associations between probe words and text passages, resulting in enhanced N400 responses to both moderately related and unrelated words, and an attenuated response to related words. Behavioral research has shown deeper semantic encoding of text from paper than from a screen. Hence, we predicted that the N400 would index deeper reading of text passages that were presented in print, and shallower reading of texts presented digitally. Middle-school students (n = 59) read passages in digital and print formats and high-density EEG was recorded while participants completed single-word semantic judgment tasks after each passage. Following digital text presentation, the N400 response pattern to moderately-related words indicated shallow reading, tracking with responses to words that were unrelated to the text. Following print reading, the N400 responses to moderately-related words patterned instead with responses to related words, interpreted as an index of deeper reading. These findings provide evidence of differences in brain responses to texts presented in print and digital media, including deeper semantic encoding for print than digital texts.
我们报告了首次使用 ERP 测量来识别阅读数字文本和印刷文本时的文本参与差异。深度语义编码是阅读理解的关键，我们预测，深入阅读说明文会促进与随后呈现的相关单词之间更强的关联，从而增强对不相关探针单词的 N400 反应，并逐渐减弱对相关和中度相关单词的 N400 反应。相比之下，浅层阅读会导致探针单词与文本段落之间的关联较弱，从而增强对中度相关和不相关单词的 N400 反应，并减弱对相关单词的反应。行为研究表明，纸质文本的语义编码比屏幕上的文本更深。因此，我们预测 N400 将索引在印刷品中呈现的文本段落的深度阅读，以及数字方式呈现的文本的浅层阅读。中学生（n=59）以数字和印刷格式阅读段落，在参与者完成每个段落后的单个单词语义判断任务时记录高密度 EEG。在数字文本呈现后，中度相关单词的 N400 反应模式表明是浅层阅读，与与文本不相关的单词的反应相吻合。在印刷阅读之后，中度相关单词的 N400 反应模式与相关单词的反应模式一致，被解释为深度阅读的指标。这些发现提供了印刷和数字媒体呈现的文本在大脑反应方面存在差异的证据，包括印刷文本比数字文本的语义编码更深。
