Ugo Ballenghein
France
ugo.ballenghein@univ-paris8.fr
WG Member – WG1, WG3
Position Paper
I am a PhD student working on the topic of electronic reading under the direction of Pr. Thierry Baccino at University Paris 8. My master’s thesis focused on attention in the case of a dual-task paradigm. On that occasion I have coupled an eye-tracking study with physiological measures such as electrodermal activity and heart rate. Today, my research topic is to study the involvement of the body in a reading task to link body and visual movements with cognitive processes such as attention, learning or memorization. This approach is known as embodied cognition for which the relation between the sensory-motor system and cognitive system is constitutive and not just causal. Now, it seems appropriate to link these data for the comparison between reading on screen and reading paper in order to highlight any differences in behaviour (reading distance, posture, eye movement etc.) Moreover, our digital environment is heterogeneous and offers us different kinds of digital screens (tablet, computer, smartphone, connected watches etc.). It also seems appropriate to compare these different kinds of digital devices in order to be able to use them usefully. In the era of digital technology and the proliferation of electronic presentation devices, the study of eye movements coupled with motion capture will allow us to learn more about the mechanisms underlying cognitive processes. My involvement in the E-READ project focuses on two areas of research. On the one hand, WG1 (Continuing / skilled (PISA-age) reading) in which we study the characterization of psychophysical measures as part of the assessment of electronic reading and secondly, WG3 (Experiential and emotional aspects of reading) by offering behavioural studies at the emotional reading texts