Does reading still make you smarter? It depends

Abstract The aim of this path-analytic study was to compare the predictability of reading experience operationalized as author recognition with the predictability of reading experience operationalized as the recognition of different types of websites for students’ verbal ability. Additionally, we investigated whether these measures predicted students’ verbal ability not only directly but also indirectly via their reading comprehension skills. As relevant control variables, we included students’ word recognition skills and their attitude toward reading. Results showed a direct positive effect of reading comprehension skills on verbal ability. There were also direct positive effects of reading experience operationalized as author recognition and reading experience operationalized as recognition of websites with news and cultural content on verbal ability. Thus, the better participants’ reading comprehension skills and the more experience they had reading books in print and news and cultural content on the web, the higher their verbal ability scores. Reading experience operationalized as author recognition and reading experience operationalized as recognition of websites with news and cultural content also had direct positive effects on reading comprehension, and author recognition had an indirect positive effect on verbal ability via reading comprehension. The recognition of websites with entertainment and social media content did not have any direct or indirect effects on verbal ability. These results suggest that experiences with reading printed books and websites containing news and cultural content may promote both reading comprehension skills and verbal ability, whereas web-based reading experiences with entertainment and social media content may not have such positive cognitive consequences