Passage 5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better Than E-Books
5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better Than E-Books
by Shaunacy Ferro
Though e-book1 readers have become a more common sight around town, traditional books still have their evangelists.2 According to The New York Times, e-book sales have been falling in 2015. Print definitely isn’t dead. In fact, according to some research, it may actually be a better choice for some readers. While scientists are still trying to tease out exactly how digital reading affects us differently, here are five ways e-books might be inferior to their dead-tree cousins.
E-books can reduce reading comprehension.
In a study of middle schoolers, West Chester University researchers found that students who read on iPads3 had lower reading comprehension than when they read traditional printed books. They discovered that the kids sometimes skipped text in favor of interactive features in the e-books, suggesting that certain multimedia in children’s e-books can be detrimental to the practice of reading itself. However, the researchers noted that some interactive features in e-books are designed to enhance comprehension, and that those might be more helpful than game-type interactive graphics.
Young kids can get distracted by e-books.
Similar results were found by a small study by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center that consisted of 32 kids reading e-books and print books with their parents. It found that “enhanced” e-books might be distracting. Kids who read enhanced e-books—ones with interactive, multimedia experiences—were more engaged with them physically, but in the end they remembered fewer narrative details than those who read print books or basic e-books.
You remember less about a book’s timeline.
Another study of adults also found that e-books can be hard to absorb. The researchers asked 25 people to read a 28-page story on a Kindle4 and 25 to read the story in paperback, then asked the readers to put 14 events from the story in chronological order. Those who read the story on a Kindle performed worse on the chronology test than the book readers, though they performed about the same as print readers in other tests. Earlier research by the same scholars, from Stavanger University in Norway, found that Norwegian 10th graders also remembered more about texts if they read them in print rather than on a computer screen.
They’re not great as textbooks.
While e-book textbooks are often cheaper (and easier to carry) than traditional door-stop5 textbooks, college students often don’t prefer them. In some surveys of college kids, the majority of students have reported preferring print books. However, a 2012 study from the UK’s National Literacy Trust of kids ages 8 to 16 found that more than 50 percent of children reported preferring screen reading.
They’re tiring.
Staring at a lit screen can be tiring for the eyes and the brain. A 2005 study from Sweden found that reading digitally required a higher cognitive workload than reading on paper. Furthermore, staring at LED6 screens at night can disrupt sleep patterns. A 2014 Harvard study found that people who used e-readers with LED screens at night slept worse and were more tired the next day. So, if you’re going to go for an e-book, go for one without the backlight.
The take-away message? If you’re really trying to absorb material, you might want to go for a physical book. And if you’re going to be up all night studying, turn off the backlight.
However, all this may not mean that reading on a Kindle is really going to melt your brain. For instance, reading an e-book on a computer is a much different experience than reading on a Kindle, which is specifically designed for consuming books. So, too, is playing with an interactive e-book on an iPad, compared to using a simpler e-book device that only presents the text, with no opportunities to click away into digital distractions.
And some studies have found that part of the difference between the way people absorb information from e-books versus paper might be due to approaching e-books differently—in one test, participants didn’t regulate their study time with digital books like they did with paper texts, leading to worse performances. It’s possible that our expectations of e-book reading—as well as the different designs of the digital reading experience on a computer or iPad or Kindle—might affect how we approach the text and how much effort we put into studying them. As generations of e-book readers evolve, and people become more accustomed to the idea of sitting down with a digital textbook, these factors could change—for better or for worse.
“5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better Than E-Books” by Shaunacy Ferro from MENTAL FLOSS, October 2, 2015. Copyright © 2015 Mental Floss, Inc.
1e-book: an electronic book, a publication made available digitally for reading on a computer or other device
2evangelists: advocates or supporters
3iPads: tablet computers
4Kindle: device for reading e-books
5door-stop: a reference to the idea that some textbooks are large and heavy enough to hold a door open
6LED: Light-emitting diode; LEDs are often used as a backlight for electronic devices such as smart phones and tablets.
Question
Which sentence from the passage suggests that people in the future will likely choose e-books over print books?
- A“They discovered that the kids sometimes skipped text in favor of interactive features in the e-books, suggesting that certain multimedia in children’s e-books can be detrimental to the practice of reading itself.” (paragraph 2)
- B“However, the researchers noted that some interactive features in e-books are designed to enhance comprehension, and that those might be more helpful than game-type interactive graphics.” (paragraph 2)
- C“Kids who read enhanced e-books—ones with interactive, multimedia experiences—were more engaged with them physically, but in the end they remembered fewer narrative details than those who read print books or basic e-books.” (paragraph 3)
- D“However, a 2012 study from the UK’s National Literacy Trust of kids ages 8 to 16 found that more than 50 percent of children reported preferring screen reading.” (paragraph 5)
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which sentence from the passage suggests that people in the future will likely choose e-books over print books.
A. Incorrect. While this sentence from paragraph 2 implies high engagement with the interactive features of e-books, it does not provide explicit evidence indicating that engagement with e-books is a reason for choosing them over print books.
B. Incorrect. While this sentence from paragraph 2 highlights some of the benefits of e-books, such as the potential to “enhance comprehension,” those benefits are not explicitly linked to readers choosing e-books over print books.
C. Incorrect. This sentence from paragraph 3 provides evidence that shows both benefits and drawbacks of reading e-books, including higher engagement but a decreased ability to recall details. Therefore, the sentence does not clarify why readers would choose e-books over print books.
D. CORRECT. In this sentence from paragraph 5, the author cites a 2012 study that found that over 50 percent of 8- to 16-year-olds “reported preferring screen reading.” Since this specific age group will one day influence the future of reading and the results of the study point to a significant percentage preferring screen reading, this sentence provides compelling evidence for what readers will prefer in the future.
Question analysis
Based on a magazine article about e-books and printed books, this question asks which quoted sentence suggests that people in the future will likely choose e-books over print. Students must reason from a present-day research finding to a likely future, while each quoted sentence reports research on children and e-books.
- NYS standards
- 7R1 textual evidence and inferences
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Drawing a logical inference from a quoted finding is typical grade 7 evidence work. The sentences are printed in the choices, so the reading load is light, but the student must still reason from a study's results to readers' future choices.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines moderate
- A lot to read minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 10, 829 words; question and choices: about grade 15, 138 words.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
The question asks for a prediction, but the article only reports studies of the present, so the student has to decide what kind of finding could point to the future. Preference is the link: what children choose now hints at what readers will choose later. Sentences about engagement and well-designed features sound favorable to e-books, yet they describe how e-books work, not whether anyone prefers them.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
No sentence mentions the future; the student must see that children of 8 to 16 who prefer screens today are tomorrow's readers, a step the article leaves unstated. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
A lot to read minor Understanding the question
Each choice is a full quoted sentence of 26 to 34 words, three of them packed with study details, so comparing the four takes more reading than the short stem suggests. (Kintsch, 1998; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Decide what kind of evidence could predict what people will choose later, then check each sentence for that kind of evidence instead of general praise or criticism of e-books.
Traps
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- Supports only part of the claim: In a question about evidence: a line that backs one half of the claim but not the other, or a related point rather than the claim itself.
The wrong answers, classified
A Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads kids skipping text “in favor of interactive features” as a liking that will win readers, though the sentence presents the habit as “detrimental” to reading.
B Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Takes features “designed to enhance comprehension” as a sign e-books will win out, but the sentence is about what some features might do, not what readers choose.
C Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Treats children being “more engaged with them physically” as a lasting preference, ignoring that they remembered fewer details and that the study measured engagement and recall, not preference.
Working it out, step by step
Understand the prediction
This asks for evidence that points to the future. But the article reports only studies of the past and present. So you need a clue about today that hints at what readers will choose later.
Think about what predicts a choice
What people will choose later depends on what they like now. So look for a sentence about preference, which means the thing a person likes better. It helps if those people are young, because young readers are the readers of the future.
Find the preference sentence
Choice D quotes a 2012 study of “kids ages 8 to 16.” It found that “more than 50 percent of children reported preferring screen reading.” So more than half of these young readers already like screens better. As they grow up, many of them may keep choosing e-books.
Check each choice
- D fits: young readers already prefer screens, which hints at the future.
- A is wrong because skipping text is called “detrimental,” or harmful, and it shows no one choosing e-books.
- B is wrong because it tells what some features might do, not what readers like.
- C is wrong because the study measured how much kids remembered, not which books they liked.
Watch out: B and C sound good for e-books. But neither one says what readers choose.
Choose the answer
Only D tells what young readers prefer, which points to later choices. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B comes closest, since features “designed to enhance comprehension” sound like a reason e-books might win. But the sentence only says what some features are meant to do. It says nothing about what readers choose. D reports what more than half of young readers already prefer, and that hints at the future.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better Than E-Books” as printed (pages 58–59)
