Digital reading experiences for different age-groups

Yoshihiro Hirata and Yoko Hirata
Hokkai-Gakuen University
Sapporo, Japan

Recently, information and communication technology (ICT) has been regarded as having the potential benefits of keeping people’s brains active and preventing age-related conditions. In Japan, there is a growth in the number of computer-based attention-training activities for people to improve their concentration and memory. Various videogame systems and hand-held computer devices have been developed, such as the Nintendo DSTM, which is targeted at training and rejuvenating the brain activity of people of all ages. In the USA, there is a similar strong interest in computer-based brain training and related commercial products. These brain-health activities or training programs are based on the assumption that people can stimulate or improve their brains by doing simple repeated tasks. The idea behind such methods is not new; they used to be crossword puzzles but, with the rapid growth of computer technology and use of the Internet, they are now fully technology-enhanced and readily available for everyone.

Research has indicated that training older adults to use computer-based programs can help to keep their brains active, maintain their cognitive functions and improve their attention, concentration and memory (Kramer et al. 2006). Current study of the ageing process indicates that the mental activity of searching for information on the Internet may enhance neural circuits in older adults and result in improving their brain functions (Small 2009). This study demonstrates that, compared to book-reading tasks, Web searching tasks produce significant activity in the areas of the brain which control decision-making and complex reasoning. In addition, the findings indicate that older adults with prior Internet experience have increased brain activity when compared with those with little Internet experience. As the Internet and the Web have become easily accessible at any time and place, more resources have become available through the electronic media and, as a result, computer-based activities have been integrated into various geriatric programmes. However, there is still little research on how older adults perceive the difference between reading computer screens and printed texts; and there are few studies on how ICT can be used for the development of brain-training activities in the best possible ways. Since users’ familiarity with computers significantly affects their comprehension of digital text (Kol and Schcolnik 2000), more work needs to be done on assessing whether the different presentation of media influences the extent and level of users’ comprehension.

The aim of the present study was to examine how older adults process the difference in physicality between computer screens and printed texts by using electroencephalography (EEG), and to determine whether these modes affected their reading performance. The study was also used to investigate how the participants felt about reading different modes of online content by evaluating their perceptions of the task they had completed. EEG is a neurological monitoring device used to monitor and record electrical activity in the brain. The benefits of using EEG technology for recording brainwaves include the ease of measurement and demonstration of spontaneous brain activities by using the visual images. In addition, unlike other diagnostic techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), EEG measurements do not restrict the subjects’ movements while their brain functions are being monitored.

This presentation firstly reviews some of the recent research on the influence of online experience on brain activity for both younger and older adults, as well as on the importance of investigating different physicality of online content in text presentation. This is followed by an outline of the research methods used in the current study to assess older adults’ brain processing while reading different presentations of texts. Different modes of texts that affect cognitive aspects of processing and maximizing comprehension are then examined. The major focus in the findings is on the relationship between various factors such as readability and the level of the participants’ comprehension of the texts. Also, recommendations are offered on effective strategies for older adults to engage in Internet search programs successfully and on the future development of their computer-based lifelong learning activities.