Advantages of Print Reading over Screen Reading: A Comparison of Visual Patterns, Reading Performance, and Reading Attitudes across Paper, Computers, and Tablets

We examined the effects of the reading medium (print vs. digital) on readers’ visual patterns, reading performance, and reading attitudes. Two within-subject experiments were conducted with 74 readers, who read articles using three reading media: print, computer, and tablet. The experimental results showed that in terms of visual patterns, readers exhibited a shorter fixation duration and a higher fixation count during print reading than during screen reading; reading performance, as measured on the basis of reading comprehension and reading time, was equivalent across all three media; however, in terms of reading attitude, readers reported higher levels of perceived understanding, perceived confidence, and perceived immersion and lower levels of perceived fatigue for reading printed text than reading from a device screen. Therefore, the performance gap between print and screen reading is narrowing. However, printed text may still be the preferred mode of reading, as demonstrated by the readers’ preferences.