THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL AND PRINT READING ON COGNITION
THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL AND PRINT READING ON COGNITION

Summary/Abstract: This article written as part of the project 'The Digitization of the Initial Training Process for Teaching Staff to Ensure an Efficient Educational Approach, in Line with the Demands of the Labor Market' analyzes digital and print reading from three complementary perspectives: epistemological, phenomenological, and ethical. From an epistemological standpoint, digital environments provide rapid access to vast amounts of information, but they also contribute to cognitive overload making it necessary for readers to apply filtering and evaluation strategies. From a phenomenological perspective, digital reading is characterized by fragmented attention and nonlinear navigation, whereas print reading supports a more embodied and tactile experience that enhances reflection, memory retention, and deep understanding. Ethically, digital reading shifts responsibility to the individual, as the circulation of information within networked environments shapes collective behaviors and identities in the contemporary Infosphere.Additionally, the article presents findings from an experimental study involving university students that compared comprehension and recall in digital and print reading conditions. The results suggest that print-based reading is associated with improved concentration, stronger memory performance, and deeper analytical processing, while digital reading tends to promote faster interaction, multitasking, and more superficial engagement with texts.

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