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The influence of hyperlinks on reading on the web: an empirical approach

The influence of hyperlinks on reading on the web: an empirical approach
The influence of hyperlinks on reading on the web: an empirical approach
We increasingly spend a vast amount of time on the Web and much of that time is spent reading. One of the main differences between reading non-Web based text and reading on the Web is the presence of hyperlinks within the text, linking various related Web content and webpages together. Some researchers and commentators have claimed that hyperlinks hinder reading because they are a distraction that may have a negative effect on the reader’s ability to process the text. However, very few controlled experiments have been conducted to verify these claims. In the experiments documented here we utilise eye tracking as a new methodology for examining how we read hyperlinked text. During reading we move our eyes in order to bring new information into our fovea where the highest visual acuity is present. There is a well-documented tight link between when and where we look and what we process. By measuring eye movements,we can gain insights into the ongoing cognitive processing that is occurring during a task. Eye movements have been used extensively to help us to understand the cognitive processing that occurs during reading, but there has been very little research into how our reading differs when we read information on the Web.Therefore, in this thesis we examine the influences of hyperlinks on reading on the Web
University of Southampton
Fitzsimmons, Gemma
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Fitzsimmons, Gemma
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Drieghe, Denis
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Weal, Mark
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Fitzsimmons, Gemma (2016) The influence of hyperlinks on reading on the web: an empirical approach. University of Southampton, School of Psychology, Doctoral Thesis, 231pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

We increasingly spend a vast amount of time on the Web and much of that time is spent reading. One of the main differences between reading non-Web based text and reading on the Web is the presence of hyperlinks within the text, linking various related Web content and webpages together. Some researchers and commentators have claimed that hyperlinks hinder reading because they are a distraction that may have a negative effect on the reader’s ability to process the text. However, very few controlled experiments have been conducted to verify these claims. In the experiments documented here we utilise eye tracking as a new methodology for examining how we read hyperlinked text. During reading we move our eyes in order to bring new information into our fovea where the highest visual acuity is present. There is a well-documented tight link between when and where we look and what we process. By measuring eye movements,we can gain insights into the ongoing cognitive processing that is occurring during a task. Eye movements have been used extensively to help us to understand the cognitive processing that occurs during reading, but there has been very little research into how our reading differs when we read information on the Web.Therefore, in this thesis we examine the influences of hyperlinks on reading on the Web

Text
Gemma Fitzsimmons Thesis July 2016.pdf - Version of Record
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More information

Published date: July 2016
Organisations: University of Southampton, Psychology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 404612
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/404612
PURE UUID: 31f8a6cd-0170-41bb-981b-74ddf2fff487
ORCID for Gemma Fitzsimmons: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4519-0499
ORCID for Denis Drieghe: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9630-8410
ORCID for Mark Weal: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6251-8786

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 27 Jan 2017 16:34
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:01

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Contributors

Author: Gemma Fitzsimmons ORCID iD
Thesis advisor: Denis Drieghe ORCID iD
Thesis advisor: Mark Weal ORCID iD

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