"The most striking evidence is not simply that people read less, but that their capacity for deep reading is weakening. According to OECD data, the proportion of 15-year-olds who fail to reach minimum reading proficiency has now risen to nearly one in four across advanced economies, with sharp declines in tasks requiring inference, evaluation, and integration of information across texts."
"Eye-tracking and cognitive load research further indicates that frequent digital readers engage in more skimming, less rereading, and shallower semantic processing. Crucially, these effects are not confined to weaker readers. Even highly educated adults now report shorter attention spans for long-form text and greater mental fatigue when reading complex arguments, suggesting that the decline of reading reflects not a loss of literacy, but an erosion of the cognitive endurance and attentional discipline that deep reading uniquely develops."
Reading engagement and comprehension have declined across decades among adolescents and adults. OECD data show nearly one in four 15-year-olds in advanced economies fail to reach minimum reading proficiency, with pronounced drops in inference, evaluation, and cross-text integration. In the United States, NAEP scores for 13-year-olds have fallen to multi-decade lows. Laboratory comparisons find digital-text readers score 10–30% lower on comprehension and recall for longer, conceptually demanding material. Eye-tracking and cognitive-load studies reveal more skimming, less rereading, and shallower semantic processing among frequent digital readers. Highly educated adults report shorter attention spans and greater fatigue, indicating erosion of cognitive endurance needed for deep reading.
Read at Fast Company
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]