Use of digital tools can affect our understanding of what we read.
Researchers Geoff Kaufman and Mary Flanagan found that those who read an
article on a computer answered concrete questions better while those who read
it from a printout were better able to answer abstract questions. More of those
who studied a printed spreadsheet could analyze the statistics to make a
decision than those who used the laptop. By specifically adding a task to a
written document it was also possible to encourage more abstract or critical
thinking in readers. Kaufman said "If I catch myself
reading a journal article in a PDF, and I start to get stuck on the details of
the methodology, I’ll just go ahead and print it out.” The authors presented at the recent ACM
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