Readers using e-books are less likely to grasp what they have read because of the simple presentation, according to the Daily Mail, which has cited a study in the journal Cognition. For instance, the Sony Reader and Amazon's Kindle display text in such a clear, legible format that this fosters a 'lazy' brain. The findings reportedly go against the conservative wisdom that legibility makes it easier for people to learn and remember information.
A study by Princeton University in the US has found that a significant number of those tested could recollect more information when presented in unusual typefaces. The research suggested that introducing 'disfluency' and making information apparently harder to understand deepened the process of learning and encouraged better retention.
According to psychologists, information which is actively generated rather than 'passively acquired' from simple text is remembered longer and more accurately. The study raises questions over how much fonts like Arial and Times New Roman, used in a majority of academic books, help readers revise for tests.
Even before the research was published, American author and psychologist Jonah Lehrer had written about the idea of disfluency in his Wired.com blog. Lehrer revealed he found it less easy to remember information he had read using his Kindle e-reader. Although Kindle users can alter the size of text, they cannot change the Caecilia font, which he described as relaxing to read.
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