NEURO-COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF READING AND LEARNING FROM PAPER AND FROM SCREENS

Over the past decade, the digitisation of schoolwork has transformed reading from screens from an exceptional practice into a more or less accepted method of learning and assessing knowledge. Nevertheless, the question remains open as to whether and in what way reading on a screen affects reading comprehension and whether, independently of this, the cognitive and neurophysiological processes that underpin text comprehension are also altered. Numerous previous studies point to differences in attention, visual and cognitive load, and metacognitive control, but data on children and younger adolescents (as well as on those over 50) are relatively scarce, particularly for complex, school-relevant tasks. The Neuro-reading pilot study aims to fill this gap by integrating behavioural and neurophysiological measures within a more ecologically relevant school context.

The pilot study involved pupils from two age groups: a younger group (approximately 9–10 years old), who completed PIRLS-type tasks, and an older group (approximately 14–15 years old), who completed PISA-type tasks. Participants read texts and answered the corresponding questions under two media conditions (paper, screen). Reading comprehension was measured by the number of correct answers, whilst metacognitive aspects were assessed through self-predictions of performance and time taken. Home reading and digital habits were assessed using the SES questionnaire. Neurophysiological measures included eye tracking (ET, blink rate, fixation duration, saccades), electrodermal activity (tonic component and phasic GSR responses) and EEG (spectral power in standard frequency bands at various electrodes).

We would like to expand and upgrade the study by including older segments of the population (students, people around 50 ...). We would also like to investigate the impact of leisure activities behind a screen on schoolwork with screens (in different age groups).