Lemarie, J., Eyrolle, H., & Cellier, J. (2008). The segmented presentation of visually structured texts: Effects on text comprehension. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(3), 888-902.

Lemarie, J., Eyrolle, H., & Cellier, J.

2008

Lemarie, J., Eyrolle, H., & Cellier, J. (2008). The segmented presentation of visually structured texts: Effects on text comprehension. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(3), 888-902.

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The effects of a segmented presentation applied to a visually structured text were examined in the context of the explosion of small-screen devices. Empirical research investigating the influence of text signaling on text processing suggests that the text visual structure may influence comprehension by facilitating the construction of a coherent text representation. Undergraduate students were asked to read a text under different segmented conditions varying on the type of information provided about the text visual structure and on the segmentation unit. When the segmented presentation did not supply any information or when it only offered local information about the text visual structure, text comprehension depended on the segmentation unit. When the segmentation unit did not fit the text visual structure, an erroneous text representation was constructed, whereas the compatible segmentation unit led to a correct text comprehension. When the segmented presentation rendered the global text visual structure, the segmentation unit had no effect on comprehension and more readers constructed a correct and close text representation. Thus, the text visual structure seems to play a role in text comprehension and this role has to be taken into account for text segmented presentation.

Our experiment shows that contrary to our assumptions, to provide information about the text visual structure does not affect the content memory. However, the segmentation unit exerts an influence on the different memory measures; when the segmentation unit is small (and even if it does not mach the text visual structure), the content recall is better than when the segmentation unit is larger (although matching the text visual structure), the former being similar to the recall rate in the normal reading condition. No effect of the presentation format was observed.

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