Psychological Features of 7-8 Grade Students Interaction with Hypertext: A Theoretical and Experimental Study Using an Eye Tracker

<p><strong>Context and relevance.</strong> Currently, hypertext systems are beginning to play an increasingly important role both in the media and in the educational process. Despite a significant array of hypertext studies, most of them are theoretical, and there is a s...

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Main Authors: N.A. Borisenko, A.A. Ganicheva, K.V. Mironova, S.V. Shishkova
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education 2025-06-01
Series:Психологическая наука и образование
Online Access:https://psyjournals.ru/en/journals/pse/archive/2025_n3/Borisenko_et_al
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Summary:<p><strong>Context and relevance.</strong> Currently, hypertext systems are beginning to play an increasingly important role both in the media and in the educational process. Despite a significant array of hypertext studies, most of them are theoretical, and there is a shortage of works on educational hypertext. <strong>Objective.</strong> To present a pilot experimental study aimed at identifying, using an eye tracker, the features of the primary perception of an educational hypertext by 7&ndash;8 grade students, their orientation in the text and the distribution of attention in the process of working with the main text and hyperlinks. <strong>Hypotheses:</strong> 1) the first reading of the educational hypertext will be sequential, accompanied by students' familiarization with the content of hyperlinks as they appear in the main text; 2) due to the additional cognitive load that occurs when working with hypertext structures, adolescents will have a relatively low level of hypertext comprehension. <strong>Methods and materials.</strong> Oculographic method, statistical analysis of the oculographic recordings, questionnaire for data collection, authors&rsquo; diagnostic tool "Hypertext comprehension". The sample included 33 students in grades 7&ndash;8 (12 boys and 21 girls, aged 12&ndash;15 years (M = 13,8, SD = 0,8)). <strong>Results.</strong> As for attention, the area of greatest intensity included text passages containing specific factual information. Although, due to the immanent properties of the hypertext, adolescents read it non-linearly, the first reading of the text was relatively consistent, without significant text gaps. High and relatively high levels of comprehension were shown by 12,1% of students, average &ndash; 48,5%, low and very low &ndash; 39,4%. <strong>Conclusions.</strong> In the process of reading, teenagers used not the F-pattern, but the commitment pattern. This result is largely explained by the specifics of working with educational hypertext, when students are given the instruction to read analytically. The prevalence of a low level of understanding indicates that schoolchildren have serious problems in semantic reading in general and reading electronic educational hypertexts in particular.</p>
ISSN:1814-2052
2311-7273