Impact of Online Reading on Mean Arterial Blood Pressure and Heart Rate

File(s)
Date
2019-05-08Author
Enea, Sofia
Maresh, Morgan
Miller, Caitlin
Pritzl, Timothy
Trieglaff, Kendall
Publisher
Journal of Advanced Student Sciences (JASS)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Online reading has become a preference for many college students as technology has become
easier to use and more advanced compared to reading books and paper-based copies. However,
there may be implications from reading online that affect memory retention and physiological
response. Previous research has failed to address the effects of screen time on physiologic
response as well as the effect of reading medium on specifically blinking rate. Additionally,
previous research has found contradictory information about the relationship between blood
pressure and reading medium. As a result of this conflicting data, our research investigated
whether reading online versus on paper significantly affected the heart rate, blinking rate, blood
pressure and memory retention of the participant. Additionally, the participants’ amount of
screen time on their phone was collected to determine if this moderated the physiologic response.
The results concluded that blood pressure was not different between reading mediums; however
the mean arterial pressure did change significantly from baseline while reading from either
medium. Heart rate decreased while reading on paper, but increased when reading online.
Respiration rate was not significantly different from baseline or between variables. Blinking rate
decreased significantly from baseline but did not differ between reading mediums. Finally,
memory retention had no difference between reading medium groups. We can conclude that
reading medium does not have an effect on memory retention, respiratory rate, blinking rate or
blood pressure. However, reading medium does have an effect on heart rate.
Subject
Blood Pressure
Heart Rate
Comprehension
Memory
Reading
Technology
Respiration Rate
Screen Time
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/81992Type
Article
Description
An article that appeared in JASS, issue 2019