Print or digital? Critical reading in the information era Yoram Eshet and Nitza Geri

Critical thinking in the information era: A survival skill for the information consumer

The manipulative nature of news headlines International Business Times, May, 19 th , 2007 According to Dor (2001), most information in news resources is manipulative or biased.

Manipulative Headlines

The Onion: Dedicated to falcification & deception www.onion.com

The problem: Are we able to consume information critically? Chalked to death Tel Aviv: Air pollution 4 times than allowed Tel Aviv: Air pollution 3 times then recommended

News representation taxonomy (Dor, 200 1 ) “ Objective” representation Naïve bias Wicked bias

“ Objective” representation

Naïve bias

Wicked bias

And why is it so important? “ In the book 1984, humans are indoctrinated against their will whereas in the modern era, they are being indoctrinated in a free will " Slavoj Žižek (2002) Welcome to the Desert of the Real

“ In the book 1984, humans are indoctrinated against their will whereas in the modern era, they are being indoctrinated in a free will "

Slavoj Žižek (2002) Welcome to the Desert of the Real

People, but especially youth are easily manipulated (Eshet & Hamburger, 2004)

Bombarded by information A constant increase in the exposure to digital information Forecast: By 2020, 70% of information will be digital (Romano, 2000). Ambiguous findings concerning critical reading in a digital format

A constant increase in the exposure to digital information

Forecast: By 2020, 70% of information will be digital (Romano, 2000).

Ambiguous findings concerning critical reading in a digital format

Print versus digital: What do we know? Reading: Slower in a digital text Cognitive load : Higher in a digital text Ownership: Lower in a digital text Navigation: Disorientation problems in a digital text General preferences: Short text : Digital. Long text: Print

Reading: Slower in a digital text

Cognitive load : Higher in a digital text

Ownership: Lower in a digital text

Navigation: Disorientation problems in a digital text

General preferences: Short text : Digital. Long text: Print

The research: I s there a difference in critical reading between print and digital format? Participants 40 high school students (20 males & 20 females) 40 college students (20 males & 20 females) Print group 20 high school students (10 males & 10 females) 20 college students (10 males & 10 females ) Digital group 20 high school students (10 males & 10 females) 20 college students (10 males & 10 females) Tasks Critical analysis of 5 news items (sport, politics, science, art, economy) Each item appears in both print and digital formats. Identify all manipulations made in news items Write a critical report Grading Close similarity between the referees’ grades and the grades given by the authors (Pearson Correlation range 0.809 to 0.997, all significant at the 0.01 level, two-tailed) suggests a high coherence of the evaluation criteria utilized in this research.

Participants

40 high school students (20 males & 20 females)

40 college students (20 males & 20 females)

Print group

20 high school students (10 males & 10 females)

20 college students (10 males & 10 females )

Digital group

20 high school students (10 males & 10 females)

20 college students (10 males & 10 females)

Tasks

Critical analysis of 5 news items (sport, politics, science, art, economy)

Each item appears in both print and digital formats.

Identify all manipulations made in news items

Write a critical report

Grading

Close similarity between the referees’ grades and the grades given by the authors (Pearson Correlation range 0.809 to 0.997, all significant at the 0.01 level, two-tailed) suggests a high coherence of the evaluation criteria utilized in this research.

Findings: Print vs. digital Total sample No significant influence of format for total participants group

Print vs. Digital: Gender influence No significant influence of format in a gender level

Print vs. digital: Age influence          High school: More critical in a digital format College: More critical in a print format

High school vs. college (regardless of format)     Significant differences in critical reading

Males vs. females (regardless of format)      Significant differences in critical reading

The medium and the message (M. McLuhan): Summary of major findings Significant influence of age on performance: High school students performed better in digital compared to print formats. College students performed better in print compared to digital formats. Significant differences in sub-groups (e.g. PH, PC, DH, DC) Significant differences regardless of format: Age Gender

Significant influence of age on performance:

High school students performed better in digital compared to print formats.

College students performed better in print compared to digital formats.

Significant differences in sub-groups (e.g. PH, PC, DH, DC)

Significant differences regardless of format:

Age

Gender

Discussion: 3 perspectives of print vs. digital The usability perspective The cognitive perspective The information economics perspective

The usability perspective

The cognitive perspective

The information economics perspective

The usability perspective The usability principle: Users perform better in familiar and friendly environments The generation gap: Youth are more used to digital & adults to print platforms

The usability principle: Users perform better in familiar and friendly environments

The generation gap: Youth are more used to digital & adults to print platforms

The cognitive perspective Youth perform better than adults in non-linear, branching hypertext environments Eshet & Hamburger (2004)

Youth perform better than adults in non-linear, branching hypertext environments

The information economics perspective The performance of users reflects the perceived value they assign to of information. Format affects the information’s perceived value and user performance.

The performance of users reflects the perceived value they assign to of information.

Format affects the information’s perceived value and user performance.

We hope this talk has inspired you with some new ideas THANKS