Navigation and Comprehension of Expository Hypertext: Hypertext Structure, Previous Domain Knowledge, and Working Memory Capacity

BURIN D. I.; BARREYRO, J. P.; SAUX, G; IRRAZABAL, N

Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology

Education & Pschology

Lugar: Malaga; Año: 2015 vol. 13 p. 529 - 550

Hypertext structure and previousknowledge affect navigation and comprehension of expository hypertexts. Fromthe Cognitive Load framework, these can be seen as sources of mental load; withinthis perspective, working memory capacity would have a role in supportingdecisions about navigation, as well as in situation model construction. Thepresent study assessed hypertexts? structure (hierarchical vs. network),previous domain knowledge (high vs. low), and working memory capacity effectson comprehension and navigation. Participants who read under network interfacesfollowed less structured navigation paths than those who read hierarchicallyorganized interfaces; however comprehension outcomes depended on otherfactors.  High previous knowledge, andhigh working memory capacity, led to better comprehension. High previousknowledge texts led to more pages visited, more non-linear jumps in reading,and more returns to the overview in the Home page in the network condition.Also, total time spent on the hypertexts was longer for high working memoryparticipants reading high previous knowledge texts. Overall, this pattern ofresults add to the literature about the beneficial effects promoted byhierarchical interfaces and concept maps; and the disorientation effectsnetwork hypertexts have for low domain knowledge students. On the other hand,given a good previous knowledge and high working memory, a more variablepattern of navigation would help readers engage in more active readingprocesses.