Many digital reading platforms allow users to choose how they navigate through text, such as scrolling continuously down a screen or clicking to turn distinct virtual pages. Cognitive psychologists suggest that physical or visual landmarks in paginated layouts might help readers construct a 'mental map' of the text, thereby improving memory retention compared to continuous vertical scrolling. To investigate this, researchers want to use the experimental method to study the effect of screen navigation layout on the retrieval of detailed information from a text.
Explain how you would conduct a study using the experimental method to investigate if there is a difference in the retention of textual information when reading using continuous vertical scrolling compared to a paginated layout. Justify your decisions as part of your explanation. You must refer to:
You should use your own experience of practical activities to inform your response.
62 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Practical activities. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.