Research Suggests E-Readers Are "Too Easy" To Read 185
New research suggests that the clear screens and easily read fonts of e-readers makes your brain "lazy." According to Neuroscience blogger Jonah Lehrer, using electronic books like the Kindle and Sony Reader makes you less likely to remember what you have read because the devices are so easy on the eyes. From the article: "Rather than making things clearer, e-readers and computers prevent us from absorbing information because their crisp screens and fonts tell our subconscious that the words they convey are not important, it is claimed. In contrast, handwriting and fonts that are more challenging to read signal to the brain that the content of the message is important and worth remembering, experts say."
And yet... (Score:4, Interesting)
And yet despite this supposed discovery the person put it out on a webpage which has to be read on a computer screen. I guess he didn't think his discovery was that important since we are all now going to forget it easier? Wouldn't it have been preferable to put scanned images of his handwriting instead?
Study too small... (Score:5, Interesting)
The study had 28 participants... and they were asked to remember species of aliens...
While this may be a sign that it's worth looking into the differences a font makes in learning, I'll wait until a bigger study comes out where participants were asked to read a more likely and involved subject matter like the history of the Ottoman Empire.
I have a feeling many participants will be less likely to read past the first chapter if it was written in Comic Sans.
Re:This is... (Score:5, Interesting)
Yeah, this is BS. I remember way more of what I read on my Sony e-reader than I do from books. Probably because I don't have to read into the cracks of books and I can up the font so my eyes don't skip lines. I read so much more than I used to now that I have an e-reader its not funny. It's definitely my best purchase of 2010.