Is Your Kindle Making You Forget What You Read (and What to Do About It)?

In the article, Is Your Kindle Making You Forget What You Read?, Eva Keiffenheim explores the question, "What's actually better for learning, reading on screens or in physical books?"

The "Screen Inferiority Effect"

According to Eva, "The Screen Inferiority Effect" "describes the consistent finding that people often understand and remember less from digital texts compared to print."

She points out that a 2018 meta-analysis of 54 studies showed a clear paper-based reading advantage. She adds that the effect is most pronounced when reading "dense, informational, or expository texts rather than narratives, and particularly when reading under time pressure" and that for "casual reading or simple stories, the difference between paper and screen can shrink or disappear entirely."

She explains why it is more difficult to remember and learn when reading from a screen.

1. Your brain gets overloaded. On some screens, there are hyperlinks, tabs, and the ability to scroll creates high extraneous cognitive overload. As a result, your brain isn't just processing the text; it's also managing the interface of the screen.
2. You're trained to skim. The digital world of news sites and social media has trained us to speed along, process superficially, look for keywords, and try to get the gist of what we are reading.
3. You lose your mental map. When you have a physical book, your "brain subconsciously builds a spatial map of the text." The location of words on a page helps you to form a map of the words. On screens, when there is an endless scroll, there is no beginning, middle, or end.

The Strategic Strength of Screens

In the section, "The Strategic Strength of Screens," Eva points out that in some ways, screens offer science-backed advantages.

1. Screens (and e-readers) allow you to customize font size and spacing, as well as background color (white, sepia, black, etc).
2. With e-readers, you have an infinite, searchable library.
3. Eva points out that much of the research on reading in screens has been done using computers and tablets with backlit LCD screens. She indicates that some studies have suggested that dedicated e-readers (like the Kindle Paperwhite) using use E-ink technology "mimics the appearance of paper and reduces glare, may lessen the negative effects on comprehension and visual fatigue."

Getting the Best of Both Worlds

Eva suggests that the goal is not to choose between print and digital but to leverage the strengths of each. Here's what she suggests (and her article elaborates on each of these principles):

Principle 1: Choose Your Medium by Your Mission

• "Use Print for Deep Learning & Core Texts."
• "Use Digital for Search, Skimming & Supplementary Reading."

Principle 2: Fight Digital Amnesia with Active Engagement

• To counter the "screen inferiority effect", be an active learner. She has some good tips in her article, "Why You Forget What You Read (And How to Fix It)."
• "Annotate to Anchor Your Thoughts."
• "Summarize to Solidify Understanding."
• "Question Everything to Deepen Analysis."

Note: Consider reading the book, How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren.

Principle 3: Tame Your Digital Environment

Eva suggests that when you read digitally for serious work, you can counter the screen's distractions:

• "Create a Digital Sancturary." Use app and website blockers to create a distraction-free environment. She uses BlockSite: Easily Block Distracting Websites And Apps. Turn off all notifications.
• Work in Focused Sprints. - Use the Pomodoro Technique - intensely focus on one task for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. (She uses Be Focused on her Mac - Be Focused - Pomodoro Timer on the Mac App Store and I do, too.)

Sources Provided by Eva:
Delgado, P., Vargas, C., Ackerman, R., & Salmerón, L. (2018). Don't throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehension. Educational Research Review, 25, 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.09.003

Fitzsimmons, G., Weal, M. J., & Drieghe, D. (2019). The impact of hyperlinks on reading text. PloS one, 14(2), e0210900. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210900

Hou, J., Wu, Y., & Harrell, E. (2017). Reading on Paper and Screen among Senior Adults: Cognitive Map and Technophobia. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 2225. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02225

Jensen, R. E., Roe, A., & Blikstad-Balas, M. (2024). The smell of paper or the shine of a screen? Students’ reading comprehension, text processing, and attitudes when reading on paper and screen. Computers & Education, 212, 105107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2024.105107

Krenca, K., Taylor, E., & Deacon, H. (2024). Scrolling and hyperlinks: The effects of two prevalent digital features on children's digital reading comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12468

Saiju, N., Tamang, N., Tamang, P., & Bastola, P. (2025). A comparative study of e-books and printed books on academic performance: Perception from the university students. International Journal of Humanities Education and Social Sciences, 3(1), 295–311. https://doi.org/10.58578/IJHESS.v3i1.4953