C3 weakened
For understanding continuous (linear) text in depth, reading on paper gives somewhat better comprehension on average than reading the same text on a screen among readers beyond early primary school, and readers on screen tend to overestimate how well they have understood. The average paper advantage has not been shown for first-grade beginner readers of short linear texts.
Bounds: The average effect is small (Delgado et al. 2018 g ≈ −0.21; Clinton 2019 g ≈ −0.25) and is scoped to readers beyond early primary school. Delgado's same-text between-participant subgroups favour paper in grades 1–6 (g = −.19), grades 7–12 (g = −.15) and undergraduates (g = −.28), with educational level not a significant moderator. The newest meta-analysis (Li & Yan 2024; 46 experiments, 2000–2022; I² ≈ 92 %) found no overall difference (g = 0.046, ns), but that null is carried by interactive or enhanced digital texts (g = 0.959, digital better), literary texts (mostly children's storybooks) and kindergarten studies; inside this claim's scope its estimates favour paper (university g = −0.432; time-limited g = −0.468; 1000–2000-word texts g = −0.391; informational g = −0.218, p = .053; non-interactive g = −0.172, ns). Its school-age subgroups (primary, middle school) lean digital but are not significant and are dominated by interactive e-books. It pooled no calibration outcome and did not separate comprehension depth or device. Kill-condition test survived 2026-09-28. Foss, Støle & Magyari 2026 (Norwegian VET, n=106, within-subjects, informational texts on own laptop vs print): whole-sample screen inferiority (OR=1.44; print M=4.15 vs digital M=3.42); significant in the lower-comprehension subgroup, trend only in the higher (p=.073); kill-condition test survived 2026-09-29 (calibration not tested). Ronconi, Altoè & Mason 2025 (Italian grade 7, N=191, mixed design; two ~1000-word informational texts; paper vs scrolling desktop PDF): no significant medium main effect on literal or inferential comprehension; lower perceived cognitive load on screen; calibration not tested; kill-condition test survived 2026-09-30 (prong a met for this design; prong b untested). First-grade beginner readers of short linear texts: Florit et al. 2025 (N=58, within-subjects) found no significant medium main effect on main-point, literal, or inferential comprehension; for descriptive texts tablet beat paper on main-point (d ≈ 0.57) and literal (d ≈ 0.59). The advantage is for informational/expository text; for narrative-only text it is not significant (Delgado) or about zero (Clinton). Time limits make the screen disadvantage larger (Delgado: time-limited g = −.26, self-paced g = −.09, ns; Li & Yan 2024: time-limited g = −0.468, free reading g = 0.192, ns); whether any paper advantage remains with self-paced reading is open question 4. Much of the gap is tied to scrolling: with scrolling paper is clearly better, with paginated (no-scroll) display the differences are small or uncertain (Clinton-Lisell & Litzinger 2026). On handheld devices (tablet, e-reader) the disadvantage is about half as large, and between studies it was larger for undergraduates than for schoolchildren, for whom it was not significant (Salmerón et al. 2024). Display technology alone (LCD vs e-ink) does not explain the gap (Siegenthaler et al. 2012). Main-idea understanding is about equal; key points and other details are better on paper (Singer & Alexander 2017). For children aged 1–8, plain digitisation of a story lowers comprehension, but story-congruent digital enhancements can beat paper (Furenes, Kucirkova & Bus 2021). Much of the evidence for the average paper advantage is from studies up to 2017 and from university students.
Attack record: 4 attacks: 3 survived, 1 narrowed · Evidence links: 15 linked sources (10 supports, 10 limits)