Reading Comprehension and Hyperlinks

Text with embedded hyperlinks makes different demands on the reader than traditional text. This has been a popular subject of recent articles and books by authors such as Nicholas Carr and psychologists such as Maryanne Wolf. Their concerns revolve around the detrimental effect the internet may have on attention and reading comprehension.

Some studies have examined the increased demands of reading hyperlinked text in terms of cognitive load, which may be thought of as the amount of information actively maintained in one’s mind (also see working memory). While the research in this area is
ongoing, it is clear that too many hyperlinks can impair comprehension. One study, for example, showed that going from about 5 hyperlinks per page to about 11 per page reduced college students’ understanding (assessed by multiple choice tests) of articles about alternative energy. This can be attributed to the decision-making process (deciding whether to click on it) required by each hyperlink, which may reduce comprehension of surrounding text.

Other studies have pointed out that the way hyperlinks are presented is important. If a short summary of the link’s content is provided when the mouse pointer hovers over it, then comprehension of the text is improved.Also, providing “navigation hints” about which links are most relevant improved comprehension. Finally, the background knowledge of the reader can partially determine the effect hyperlinks have on comprehension. In a study of reading comprehension with subjects who were familiar or unfamiliar with art history, texts which were hyperlinked to one another hierarchically were easier for novices to understand than texts which were hyperlinked semantically. In contrast, those already familiar with the topic understood the content equally well with both types of organization.In interpreting these results, it may be useful to note that the studies mentioned were all performed in closed content environments, not on the internet. That is, the texts used only linked to a predetermined set of other texts which was offline. Furthermore, the participants were explicitly instructed to read on a certain topic in a limited amount of time. Reading text on the internet may not have these constraints.