Experiential and emotional aspects of reading

Empirical research shows that literary deep reading, by virtue of its appeal to first-person experience, yields potentially unique cognitive and emotional benefits (enhancing the capacity for empathy, social inference, emotional self-regulation, verbal abilities and intelligence). The increasing use of e-readers and tablets for literary reading warrants closer scrutiny of the effects of such interfaces on affective and emotional processes and outcomes. Literary reading in print has been found to be positively correlated with cognitive skills such as vocabulary and reading comprehension (Mol & Bus, 2011). A growing body of research indicates that literary reading plays a role in the development and support of social and emotional skills, such as empathy and sympathy (Kidd & Castano, 2013; Mar & Oatley, 2008; Mason & Just, 2009; Oatley, 2011). If literary reading contributes to mental and social well-being we need to know how affordances of, in particular, handheld digital reading devices affect these outcomes.

For additional information about Experiential and emotional aspects of reading please contact Anezka Kuzmicova.