Rock-Paper-Screen: Fifth-graders' comprehension of simple and enhanced digital text

In this experiment, we compared 338 fifth-grade students' comprehension of text presented in three formats: paper, a simple linear digital format, and an enhanced digital format with an embedded dictionary. We also collected data on the students' prior reading comprehension skills, word reading efficiency, and daily digital device use, which allowed us to investigate whether medium effects varied depending on individual differences in reader characteristics. The results revealed no differences in students' text comprehension across the three reading formats. Additionally, there was no indication that performance across reading formats varied depending on students' prior reading skills or digital experience. Although we found no evidence that the embedded dictionary had an impact on students' text comprehension, the process data suggested that students used the dictionary strategically by clicking on words that were central to understanding the ideas presented in the text. Understanding the costs and benefits of on-screen reading is important, as digital reading devices have become integral to social communication and educational activities, increasingly so for younger readers. Although previous research on adults and adolescents commonly reports detrimental effects of screen reading, we found no evidence that tablet reading impaired fifth graders' comprehension of grade-level narrative and expository texts in the classroom. Moreover, while not detrimental, digital text enhancements offered no clear benefit: access to an embedded dictionary had no immediate impact on students' understanding of the texts. These results were consistent across different reading-skill levels. • Fifth graders read texts on paper, tablet, and tablet with an embedded dictionary. • There were no differences in students' comprehension of the texts across formats. • No moderating effects of students' prior reading skills or digital experience • Students used the embedded dictionary strategically.