A simple click of the mouse makes it available a huge amount of information. We “google” multiple times in a day as the Internet is “the” source of information for anyone. However, the difficult task of controlling the accuracy and relevance of information, traditionally carried out by editors and publication companies (“gatekeepers”, is now transferred to the students themselves. When students begin to construct working knowledge on an unfamiliar topic by navigating on the Web, how do they evaluate the veracity of what they read? Whose authority do they accept, and why? What evidence do they decide is acceptable justification? How certain are they that what they read is true and believable? How do they reconcile their own knowledge with the experts’ knowledge? How do they integrate conflicting information? We investigate cognitive and physiological correlates of sourcing and comprehension of multiple online texts on controversial issues.
Selected publications
Anmarkrud, O., Bråten, I., Florit, E. & Mason, L. (2022). The role of individual differences in sourcing: A systematic review. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 749–792 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09640-7
Mason, L., Moè, A., Tornatora, M. C., Ronconi, A. (2022). Promoting Web-source evaluation and comprehension of conflicting online documents: Effects of classroom interventions. In: Limone, P., Di Fuccio, R., Toto, G.A. (Eds.), Psychology, Learning, Technology PLT 2022 (pp. 3-21). Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1606. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15845-2
Raccanello, D., Florit, E., Brondino, & Mason, L. (2022). Control and value appraisals and online multiple-text comprehension in primary school: the mediating role of boredom and the moderating role of word-reading fluency. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(1), 258‒279. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12448
Anmarkrud, O., Bråten, I., Florit, E. & Mason, L. (2021). The role of individual differences in sourcing: A systematic review. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09640-7
Salmerón, L., Delgado, P., & Mason, L. (2021). Using eye-movement modelling examples to improve critical reading of multiple webpages on a conflicting topic. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 36(6), 1038‒1051. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12458
Mason, L., Zaccoletti, S., Scrimin, S., Tornatora, M. C., Florit, E., & Goetz, T. (2020). Reading with the eyes and under the skin: Comprehending conflicting digital texts. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 36, 89‒101. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12399
Tarchi, C., & Mason, L. (2020). Effects of critical thinking on multiple-document comprehension. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 35(2), 289‒313. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-019-00426-8
Florit, E., De Carli, P., Giunti, G., & Mason, L. (2019). Advanced theory of mind uniquely contributes to children’s multiple-text comprehension. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 189, Article e104708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104708
Mason, L. (2018). Multiplicity in the digital era: Processing and learning from multiple sources and modalities of instructional presentations. Learning and Instruction, 57, 66-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.03.004
Mason, L., Scrimin, S., Tornatora, M. C., Zaccoletti, S., & Goetz, T. (2018). Webpage reading: Psychophysiological correlates of emotional arousal and regulation predict multiple-text comprehension. Computers in Human Behavior, 87, 217−326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.05.020
Mason, L., Scrimin, S., Tornatora, M. C., Suitner, C., & Moè, A. (2018). Internet source evaluation: The role of implicit associations and psychophysiological self-regulation. Computers & Education, 119, 59-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2017.12.009
Mason, L., & Florit, E. (2018). Complementary methods for assessing online processing of multiple sources. In J. L. G. Braasch, I. Bråten, & M. T. McCrudden (Eds.), Handbook of multiple source use (pp. 425-446). New York: Routledge.