Effects of VDT and paper presentation on consumption and production of information: Psychological and physiological factors

Two experiments were performed to investigate the influence of VDT (video display terminals) and paper presentation of text on consumption of information (Study 1) measured in the form of convergent production and production of information (Study 2) measured in form of divergent production. The READ test of reading comprehension was used as the convergent task whereas the ‘‘Headlines’’ test was used as the divergent task. Several other factors pertaining to performance were also studied including the PANAS test of positive and negative affect, the STH test of stress, tiredness and hunger, the TRI (Technology Readiness Inventory) and the SE test of stress and energy. The results show that performance in the VDT presentation condition where inferior to that of the Paper presentation condition for both consumption and production of information. Concomitantly, participants in the VDT presentation condition of the consumption of information study reported higher levels of experienced stress and tiredness whereas the participants in the VDT presentation condition of production of information study reported only slightly higher levels of stress. Although the results are discussed inboth physiological andpsychological terms arguments are made that the incremental effects of VDT text presentation stem mainly from dual-task effects of fulfilling the assignment andworkingwith the computer resulting in a higher cognitiveworkload. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.