C-crcs Cognitive - Counselling Research & Conference Services (eISSN: 2301-2358)
Volume I
Levels of processing during on-screen reading
a
Emel Dikbaş Torun *, Arif Altun
a
b
Pamukkale University, Faculty of Communication, Denizli, Turkey
b
Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education, Ankara, Turkey
http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/book.4
Abstract
This study investigates the participants' recall performances during reading a context-free story from a computer
screen in the framework of Levels of Processing. The immediate recall test was used to determine participants'
performance on free recall, title recognition and location memory with an online memory performance
determination and measurement instrument. Results are in accordance with the main argument of Levels of
Processing; deeply processed elements are remembered better and the strength of the encoded memory trace
depends on the mental processes carried out with different types of tasks. Results show that the main effects of
levels of processing on memory performance during on-screen reading are significant. The way of encoding, storing
and retrieving during on-screen reading by implementing instructional tasks determine the level of memory
performance in online interaction.
© 2013 Published by C-crcs. Peer-review under responsibility of the Editor of the
Volume. Keywords: Levels of Processing; Memory; Recall
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 5056183063; fax: +902582691851.
E-mail address: [email protected].
Open Access licence:
E. Dikbaş Torun, A. Altun / The C-crcs Volume Book Chapter
1. Introduction
The main argument in Levels of Processing (LoP) is that the depth of the processing level
determines the durability of the memory traces. In other words, deeper (semantic features)
levels of processing are associated with the strength of the encoding and increase memory
performance (Craik & Lockhart, 1972; Lockhart and Craik 1990; Craik 2002). Various methods
of LoP depending on manipulated instructional tasks were developed to make researches on
increasing memory performance (Bisby, Leitz, Morgan, & Curran, 2010; Challis,
Velichkovsky, & Craik, 1996; Foos & Goolkasian, 2008; Java, Gregg, & Gardiner, 1997;
Kronlund & Whittlesea, 2005; Mulligan & Picklesimer, 2012; Paap & Cooke, 1997; Rodrigues,
Sauzeon, Langevin, Raboutet, & N'Kaoua, 2010; H. L. Roediger, Gallo, & Geraci, 2002; Rose,
2010; Zannino et al., 2010).Therefore, this study aims at exploring memory performances
during reading an online text from a computer screen, including the located web elements such
as target words and titles (interactive buttons).
During reading from a screen or paper; the locations of the target elements in a text are
encoded due to their positional information and the location memory performance during
reading is argued to be nonpersistent (Therriault & Raney, 2002) . In online environments,
users’ mental processes (Foulsam & Underwood, 2008) relate to their expectations of page
orientation, providing faster visual recognition of the target elements (Leuthold, 2011). Users’
cognitive differences (Altun, 2000; DeStefano & LeFevre, 2007) and the processing level of the
instructional task are the valuable dimensions of their online memory performances (Juvina &
Oostendorp, 2006; Puerta Melguizo, Vidya, & van Oostendorp, 2011). Thus, it is important to
manipulate the reading process by implementing shallow, medium and deep levels of processing
tasks so that it could be possible to see how readers’ memory performance change by using LoP
as an independent variable (Cangöz & Altun, 2012).
In this study, it is aimed to address an incidental learning paradigm of online reading
from a computer screen. The target elements were located in a manner of web design and
processed by the participants with different types of instructional tasks by providing them
the elements of online reading as natural as possible in order to test the participants’ memory
performances in terms of LOP.
2. Problem Statement
LoP methods can be applied to increase memory performance depending on manipulated task
characteristics. Yet, it has not been explored whether the ongoing debate could be extended
to the digital learning environments.
3. Research Questions
What are the effects of shallow, medium and deep levels of processing on participants'
recall performances during on-screen reading?
4. Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to investigate the participants' recall performances in
the framework of LoP upon reading a context-free story from a computer screen.
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5. Research Methods
A design-based, quantitative research model was followed in this study. During the 2013
spring semester, 60 students (Female=30, Male=30) aged 17 from a public school in Turkey,
enrolled in the study. The participants were randomly recruited into 3 experimental groups
(n=20) to read an unpublished context-free sci-fi story online. The online screen reading design
of the story was purposely programmed for the study in a linear navigation design structure
including 10 titled chapters and 20 pages. 1 or 2 words per page and 25 words in total were
determined as target words from the text and written in red font colour in the text page screen
design. The target words were selected impartially from each text page and in this process the
text region was thought as to be split by an imaginary coordinate plane’s four quadrants. The
paragraphs were distributed carefully and the words from different quadrant regions of the text
were written in red font colour as target words (See Fig. 1). This quadrant method was adopted
to meet the location memory performance measurement basics. Each page of the online story
text was to fit on one screen on 15 inch monitors with standardized screen resolution by the
computers running Internet Explorer 8 in full screen mode without scrolling.
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Figure 1. Screenshot of the online “Doppelganger” story. The story was originally written in
Turkish. The target words selected from the text were typed in red font colour. Words with a
closer location to the central regions of the text were not selected as target words. The
sections’ title list panel including interactive buttons, is on the left side of the screen.
Within the framework of LoP, the participants’ levels of reading and the depth of the
processes were manipulated by the given tasks during online reading sessions. Each group
accomplished one of the three instructional tasks which were designed in shallow, medium
and deep levels of processing. The instructional tasks were as follows:
The Shallow Task (Group 1): “Please count and find the sum of the total number of
vowels in the words that were written in red font colour in the text”
The Medium Task (Group 2): “Please find and make a list of new words rhyming with
the words that were written in red font colour in the text”
The Deep Task (Group 3): “Please compose new meaningful sentences with the words
that were written in red font colour in the text”
The immediate recall test was applied online to determine students’ performance on free recall,
title recognition and location memory with a Memory Performance Test (MPT) which was
developed by the researchers in the guidance of the expert reviews. MPT consisted of three
subtests:
Free recall, where participants wrote as many target words as they could recall from
the text. Each correct answer was evaluated with 1 score point.
Title recognition was a multiple-choice test, where participants marked the correct
title with a correct sequencing from the given choices. Title recognition test included
10 questions (total number of the titles of 10 chapters). Each correct answer was
evaluated with 1 score point.
Location memory, where participants tried to mark (indicating the location by
putting an x sign to the correct quadrant which is representing the text screen on
paper with a symbolic coordinate plane for each target word) the screen locations of
the target words correctly. For each correct sign, 1 score point added.
6. Findings
One-way ANOVA results were significant for free recall F(2,59)=6.405, р= .003 and
location memory F(2,59)=8.752, р= .000 tests. However there was no significant effect of
LoP on title recognition F(2,59)= .605, p=
.550. These results confirm the impact of LoP on free recall and location memory
performances. Table 1 demonstrates the means and standard deviations for the 3 groups on
measures of memory performance of free recall, title recognition and location memory with
levels of processing.
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Table 1: Mean number of target words (N=25, free recall and location memory) and titles
(N=10, title recognition) correctly recalled according to instructional task processing levels and
encoding conditions (levels of processing).
Levels of
Memory Testprocessing
Free Recall
Mean
SD
Shallow
7.30
3.57
Medium
7.70
3.63
10.70
2.53
Shallow
7.45
1.99
Medium
7.55
1.88
Deep
8.50
1.66
Shallow
3.50
1.57
Medium
5.60
2.80
Deep
7.45
4.06
Deep
Title
Recognition
Location
Memory
Mean memory performances of free recall, title recognition and location memory indicated an
increasing level of retrieval related to the depth of processing. Significantly, the results
demonstrated that greater memory performance was obtained in deeper levels of encoding as
compared to medium and shallow levels (See Fig. 2).
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31.04
23.33
14.58
74.50
85
75.50
Location
Memory
Title
Recognition
42.80
29.20
Shallo
w
30.80
Medium
Deep
Figure 2. Memory Performance (Scores %) in shallow, medium and deep levels of processing.
7. Conclusions
In this study, results are in accordance with the main argument of levels of processing;
deeply processed elements are remembered better and the strength of the encoded memory trace
depends on the mental processes carried out with different types of tasks. Results show that the
main effects of levels of processing on memory performance during on-screen reading are
significant. For further research, readers’ memory performances in terms of LoP with
instructional tasks can be examined by adding time, attention and layout design type dimensions
to the online reading environment.
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7.
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