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Incidental Learning From Science Journalism:
e Eects of a Narrative Writing Style on the
Comprehension and Situational Interest of Austrian
Non-Experts in Health Sciences
C A*, I D D S
Austrian non-experts in health sciences oen lack the scientic knowl-
edge to make informed decisions that aect their daily lives and society
as a whole. In general, their interest in current scientic knowledge is
low, so it is unlikely that they will actively seek out information. Adult
non-experts therefore need to acquire relevant scientic information
incidentally, e.g., by reading journalistic articles. Journalistic articles
traditionally follow an inverted pyramid structure, presenting the most
important information rst, while narratives unfold events chronologi-
cally with intentionally acting characters. Journalistic science narratives
provide information that is usually missing in inverted pyramids. is
additional information may increase situational interest in journalistic
science narratives. Most people are confronted with narratives more of-
ten than with explanatory texts in everyday life and can therefore process
them better. Due to the linear structure, relevant information elements
are automatically activated at the same time, which further facilitates
processing. An online study in the context of online science journal-
ism on nutrition topics was conducted in Austria with adult non-
experts in health sciences recruited via online platforms. e dependent
variables comprehension, cognitive load and situational interest were
investigated using a multiple-tier test and self-reports. e results indi-
cate signicantly higher comprehension and general situational interest
and signicantly lower cognitive load aer reading journalistic science
narratives compared to inverted pyramids. However, situational inter-
est in journalistic science narratives was signicantly lower aer par-
ticipants had read the rst paragraph. It then increased and was signi-
cantly higher than that for inverted pyramids for the rest of the article.
erefore, journalistic science narratives with a strictly chronological
*Corresponding Author. University of Applied Sciences Burgenland, Eisenstadt, Austria; and
eLearning Academy for Communication, Eisenstadt, Austria;
christian.ameseder@hochschule-burgenland.at.
Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1899
Published on-line as Recently Accepted Paper: January 2025 our nal
: ...
structure should be used with caution. When initial situational interest
is low, individuals may stop reading before they have enough informa-
tion to fully comprehend the content. In addition, higher situational in-
terest is correlated with a lower perception of cognitive load.
Keywords: incidental learning, narrative science journalism, cognitive
load, comprehension, situational interest, storytelling
ournal
Naključno učenje iz znanstvenega novinarstva:
učinki pripovednega sloga pisanja na razumevanje in
situacijsko zanimanje avstrijskih nestrokovnjakov na
področju zdravstvenih ved
C A, I D D S
Avstrijci, ki niso strokovnjaki na področju zdravstvenih ved, pogosto
nimajo dovolj znanstvenega znanja za sprejemanje na informacijah
temelječih odločitev, ki vplivajo na njihovo vsakodnevno življenje in
družbo kot celoto. Na splošno je njihovo zanimanje za aktualno znan-
stveno znanje majhno, zato je malo verjetno, da bodo aktivno iskali
informacije. Odrasli nestrokovnjaki morajo zato ustrezne znanstvene
informacije pridobiti naključno, npr. z branjem novinarskih člankov.
Novinarski članki tradicionalno sledijo strukturi obrnjene piramide in
najprej predstavijo najpomembnejše informacije, medtem ko pripovedi
kronološko razvijajo dogodke z namensko delujočimi liki. Novinarske
znanstvene pripovedi zagotavljajo informacije, ki jih v obrnjenih pira-
midah običajno ni. Te dodatne informacije lahko povečajo situacijsko
zanimanje za novinarske znanstvene pripovedi. Večina ljudi se v vsakda-
njem življenju pogosteje srečuje s pripovedmi kot z razlagalnimi besedili
in jih zato lahko bolje obdela. Zaradi linearne strukture se pomembni
informacijski elementi hkrati samodejno aktivirajo, kar še dodatno olaj-
ša obdelavo. V Avstriji je bila izvedena spletna študija v okviru spletnega
znanstvenega novinarstva o prehranskih temah, v kateri je sodelovalo
odraslih nestrokovnjakov s področja zdravstvenih ved, ki so bili
pozvani prek spletne platforme. Odvisne spremenljivke razumevanja,
kognitivnih obremenitev in situacijsko zanimanje so bile raziskane s
večstopenjskim testom in samoporočanjem. Rezultati kažejo na boljše
razumevanje in splošni situacijsko zanimanje ter bistveno manjšo ko-
gnitivno obremenitev po branju novinarskih znanstvenih pripovedi v
primerjavi z obrnjenimi piramidami. Situacijsko zanimanje za novi-
narske znanstvene pripovedi je bilo bistveno manjše, ko so udeleženci
prebrali prvi odstavek. Nato se je povečalo in je bilo v preostalem delu
članka pomembno večje kot pri obrnjenih piramidah. Zato je treba no-
vinarske znanstvene pripovedi s strogo kronološko strukturo uporabljati
previdno. Kadar je začetno situacijsko zanimanje majhno, lahko posa-
mezniki prenehajo brati, še preden dobijo dovolj informacij za popolno
: ...
razumevanje vsebine. Poleg tega je večje situacijsko zanimanje povezano
z manjšim poznavanjem kognitivnih obremenitev.
Ključne besede: naključno učenje, narativno znanstveno novinarstvo,
kognitivna obremenitev, razumevanje, situacijsko zanimanje,
pripovedovanje zgodb
ournal
Introduction
Climate change, global insect extinction, individualised genomic medi-
cine, the emergence of novel communicable diseases (e.g., the Covid- pan-
demic) and chronic non-infectious degenerative diseases (e.g., obesity, dia-
betes, cancer, cardiovascular disease) are just a few of the problems aecting
people worldwide (Dunwoody, ; Hendriks et al., ; Kopp, ). Many
of these socio-scientic challenges can have serious consequences for people’s
personal, social and civic lives (Feinstein & Waddington, ). In order to be
literate citizens and to be able to participate in socio-scientic discussions, indi-
viduals need a certain level of scientic knowledge, especially in an increasingly
technological world (Hofstein et al., ; Roth & Lee, ).
According to a PISA study (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development [OECD], ), the knowledge of Austrian -year-old students in
the natural sciences decreased signicantly between and . Even if the
level of knowledge is high at the end of formal education, science and its methods
provide reliable knowledge but not ultimate truths. Other people – or the same
person at a later time – can modify or refute previous ndings (Weitze & Heckl,
). However, adults’ self-reported interest in new scientic discoveries and
technological developments is low (European Commission, ). As a result,
many adults lack (self-reported) science literacy (Austrian Academy of Sciences,
; European Union, ). Taken together, even less informed individuals
have to make decisions that sometimes have far-reaching consequences for them-
selves and for society as a whole. Although knowledge is not the only factor in
decision making (e.g., emotions are another; Angie et al., ), it is unlikely that
informed decisions can be made without the appropriate background knowledge.
Journalistic science narratives
In a eld in which they are not experts, people cannot usually acquire
knowledge through primary experiences. ey depend on the mediation
of information through secondary experiences, such as mediated messages
(Burkart, ). Although the language used in scientic journals enables ef-
cient communication in scientic circles, it is dicult for non-experts in sci-
ence to understand (Avraamidou & Osborne, ). erefore, it is journalists
who traditionally full the task of keeping non-experts up to date.
Adult non-experts get their information about scientic topics mainly
from the mass media, especially the internet (Dahlstrom, ; Austrian Acad-
emy of Sciences, ; Weitze & Heckl, ). According to the Reuters Digital
: ...
News Report (Newman et al., ), of Austrian respondents indicated
online platforms (including social media) as their main source of news. How-
ever, even the increasing digitalisation of communication and the increased use
of these new forms of communication do not seem to be leading to habitua-
tion. Students understand better when reading on paper than when reading on
desktop computers. e dierence in comprehension between print and digital
even increased between and (Delgado et al., ). As news readers
become less willing – and perhaps less able (OECD, ) – to read dicult ma-
terial, journalists need to communicate complex issues in simple ways (Yaros,
). As Delgado et al. () found no dierence between reading narratives
on paper and in digital form, a narrative writing style could be particularly
benecial in digital environments.
A ‘journalistic article’ is a news item aimed at a general audience and
written by employees of professional journalistic institutions. Journalistic arti-
cles are usually written in the so-called inverted pyramid, whereby information
is arranged in descending order of perceived importance (van Dijk, ). e
term ‘news story’ is commonly used to refer to journalistic articles without im-
plying a particular writing style. Lugmayr et al. () suggest that the creation
of narratives whose purpose goes beyond entertainment should be called ‘seri-
ous storytelling’. However, the notion ‘storytelling’ is also associated with eco-
nomic calculations (Früh, ). As the present study examines writing style,
and given that quality journalism should not be dictated by economic calcula-
tions, the notion ‘journalistic science narrative’ is used.
Dierent denitions of narration (and storytelling) have been used in
previous research, which may explain the sometimes contradictory results
(Frey, ; Früh & Frey, ). In a meta-analysis by Ettl-Huber et al. (),
the most frequently mentioned elements of narratives were plot and characters,
followed by space and time. Together with the topic, which can be taken for
granted in a journalistic context, these elements form the core of narratives.
For a narrative to have a plot, at least one state must change, while characters
carrying out intended actions drive the plot forward. Articles written in the
inverted pyramid already contain some elements of narratives (Frey, ), but
unlike journalistic science narratives (JSNs), inverted pyramids lack a continu-
ous, causal plot and characters who act intentionally.
In order to illustrate what a JSN might look like, the following is an out-
line of the fatty acid JSN used in the present study. e scientist is described in
her laboratory, next to cages of mice. e article then briey outlines the diges-
tion of omega- and omega- fatty acids before returning to the scientist con-
ducting her mouse study. She observes the initial eects of dierent diets, then
ournal
simulates Parkinson’s disease in the mice. She then observes how the results of
this simulation dier between mice with an omega--rich diet and mice with
an omega--rich diet. e mice that were exposed to the omega--rich diet
had less oxidative stress in their brains and their dopamine-producing neurons
were protected.
Only a few studies (e.g., Yaros, , ; Yaros & Cook, ; Kleemans
et al., ) have investigated the eects of JSNs. However, studies of science
narratives without a journalistic context mainly examine their persuasiveness
or eects in the context of intentional learning (Ettl-Huber et al., ) and are
compared to advertisements or textbooks (not inverted pyramids). e pro-
cessing strategy (and consequently the eects) is likely to vary depending on the
dierent processing goals in intentional and incidental learning (Slater, ).
Studies on general journalism, on the other hand, do not take into account the
specics of science journalism (e.g., acquisition of scientic concepts).
Comprehension of journalistic science narratives
Comprehension should be distinguished from the function of memory
and the learning process (Schnotz & Kürschner, ): memory refers to the
mere storage of information in the long-term memory (LTM), while compre-
hension refers to task performance that takes place only in working memory
(WM), where connections between dierent information elements are pro-
cessed. e whole procedure of processing and storing information is called
cognitive learning, which leads to an increase in expertise. erefore, compre-
hension is a factor in learning.
Whereas individuals consciously acquire knowledge in intentional
learning, they do not explicitly intend to learn in incidental learning. Incidental
learning is thus a by-product of other activities, such as task performance (e.g.,
reading online journalism). It becomes more important as individuals age, as
they are increasingly less likely to attend institutions that require intentional
learning (Wagnon et al., ).
Individuals develop scientic concepts by: () distinguishing the char-
acteristics of objects in a set from each other, () distinguishing characteris-
tics that are common to a set from those that are specic to individual or few
objects (characteristics that instances can have), and () identifying common
characteristics (characteristics that each of their instances must have) and de-
veloping new concepts. Aer developing a concept, the individual has identi-
ed its crucial characteristics and is able to recognise it in every case (Krnel &
Skubic, ; Layng, ).
: ...
Lawson et al. () distinguish between descriptive concepts (which can
be observed directly), hypothetical concepts (which could be observed if the time
frame could be extended) and the most abstract theoretical concepts (in which
causal agents cannot be observed). Similarly, Devetak and Glažar (), following
the work of Johnstone (), dierentiate the macroscopic level of chemical con-
cept presentation (observed chemical phenomena), the submicroscopic level (inter-
pretation of observed particle interactions) and the symbolic level (submicroscopic
representations translated into symbols, e.g., symbols of chemical elements or
schematic representations). e diculty of acquiring and understanding a con-
cept increases with its degree of abstraction. Even adults beginning to construct
concepts in a new eld of study need some descriptive (macroscopic) conceptual
foundation before they can construct theoretical (submicroscopic) concepts (Law-
son et al., ). When communicating with non-experts in a eld, it is therefore
important to address the macroscopic level (descriptive concepts) before intro-
ducing the submicroscopic level (hypothetical or even theoretical concepts).
Novel and inconsistent information (e.g., from science journalism) re-
quires controlled – as opposed to automatic – information processing in work-
ing memory (Jiang & Kalyuga, ). To consciously comprehend information
(e.g., construct scientic concepts), individuals must simultaneously hold all
relevant (interacting) elements in their working memory. However, working
memory – and thus controlled information processing – is limited in time and
capacity (e.g., Cowan, ; Rouder et al., ).
When processing the information in a message, the available cognitive
resources are divided between the processes of ‘encoding’, ‘storage’ and ‘re-
trieval’ (Lang, ; Wise et al., ). If any of these processes requires more
resources than are available or allocated to it, the message will be processed
poorly (Lang, ). e mental resources required to perform a particular
task are referred to as cognitive load (CL), while mental eort refers to the men-
tal resources individuals actually allocate to a task. If the CL of a task exceeds
the mental eort, performance will be poor (Schnotz & Kürschner, ). By
integrating multiple information elements into a schema as a result of learning,
experts can increase the number of information elements that can be activated
simultaneously (Sweller et al., ). As science journalism is aimed at non-
experts in the eld, it is crucial not to rely on established schemas and to take
into account the number of single information elements that readers have to
activate simultaneously. Due to the linear structure of narratives, related infor-
mation elements are automatically activated simultaneously while reading (van
den Broek et al., ). erefore, even non-experts may require fewer mental
resources to retrieve information elements when reading JSNs.
ournal
Mayer (, pp. –) further distinguishes between dierent types
of encoding. Essential processing is required to represent the essential mate-
rial (text base) in working memory, whereas generative processing refers to the
utilisation of essential information (mental models), which involves integration
with existing knowledge. e combination of essential and generative process-
ing leads to comprehension and meaningful learning. Finally, extraneous pro-
cessing is not related to the goal of the task.
With each encounter with certain text structures, individuals improve
their ability to read them (Norris et al., ). erefore, science journalism
should employ text structures to which the majority of its audience is accus-
tomed. It is assumed that non-experts are more familiar with a narrative struc-
ture than a non-narrative structure. Narratives play a prominent role in indi-
vidual development and human history and resemble everyday life experiences
(Mar et al., ). erefore, non-experts should understand JSNs better than
inverted pyramids. However, content is more complex in science journalism
than in general journalism, while ‘seductive details’ can lead to extraneous pro-
cessing and reduce comprehension and learning (van den Broek, ).
Zabrucky and Moore () found that, in an educational context, adults’
recall of idea units and comprehension were higher for narrative texts than for
expository texts, despite the fact that they reread fewer passages of narrative texts
than expository texts. Similarly, a study by orndyke () found that compre-
hension increased when a prose text contained more plot structure, while Fer-
nald () found that students who read narrative textbook chapters achieved
signicantly higher test scores. ese ndings are consistent with the results of a
meta-analysis by Mar et al. () in a general education context. However, Cun-
ningham and Gall () found no inuence of writing style on test performance.
In the context of general journalism, individual studies have found trends
in perceived comprehensibility in dierent directions for dierent topics (Früh
& Frey, ; Zerba, ). Machill et al. () found that narrative television
news was more successful in conveying information than inverted pyramids,
especially among younger participants with low knowledge and low interest in
the topics, while Kleemans et al. () found increased information recogni-
tion in online journalistic narratives (one of the four article topics was science).
However, Sternadori () found no signicant dierences in comprehension
between narratives and inverted pyramids.
In a study by Yaros () on science journalism, individuals performed
best in a comprehension test aer having read a JSN with linear links. Similarly,
Yaros and Cook () found higher learning success as well as less eye xation
and shorter viewing time for narratives. In both studies, however, terms with
: ...
which participants were likely unfamiliar were only explained in the narrative
conditions, which may have contributed to this eect.
Situational interest in journalistic science narratives
In order to understand a message and gain information from it, indi-
viduals rst need to receive it (Früh & Frey, ), which means they need to
be interested in it. e Four-Phase Model of Interest Development (Hidi & Ren-
ninger, ; Renninger & Hidi, ) distinguishes between individual and
situational interest. Individual interest refers to the uninterrupted engagement
of an individual in a specic domain. It develops over time and inuences an
individual’s knowledge and values in the long run. Situational interest, on the
other hand, refers to the perceived ‘interestingness’ of a message that arises sud-
denly during exposure to that message and is of short duration (Yaros, ).
As the present study investigates the eects of individual messages, the
focus is on situational interest. According to the four-phase model, the emer-
gence of long-lasting individual interest results from situational (text-based)
interest in four phases (Hidi & Renninger, ; Renninger & Hidi, ): ()
triggered situational interest – individuals start consuming a message because
of a trigger; () maintained situational interest – interest persists for more than
a few seconds or recurs in similar activities; () emerging individual interest
– individuals engage repeatedly with the topic and ask themselves questions
about it; and () well-developed individual interest – the engagement has be-
come permanent. When interest is sustained, these four distinct and sequential
phases describe how it develops progressively (Hidi & Renninger, ).
Situational interest is assumed to increase the attention directed to a
task, which in turn should lead to higher comprehension and learning: accord-
ing to the level of processing framework, shallow encoding is disadvantageous
for retrieval compared to deep encoding (Wagnon et al., ). Research shows
that there is a statistically signicant correlation between situational interest
and the knowledge that individuals develop during a particular activity (Durik
& Harackiewicz, ; Snětinová et al., ; Slapničar et al., ).
In an educational context, students in the aforementioned study by Fernald
() preferred narrative material to traditional textbook material. Research also
found that the ratings for narrative and expository writing styles in a history text-
book chapter did not dier signicantly, although most of the students surveyed
preferred the narrative style in a direct comparison (Cunningham & Gall, ).
Moreover, preference for narrative over expository writing styles was found to be
more pronounced for a less interesting topic (Arya & Maul, ).
ournal
In the context of general journalism, there are ndings on situational
interest in both directions. In some studies, narratives were rated as less inter-
esting (Kelly et al., ) and were less appreciated (Kleemans et al., ) than
inverted pyramids. Sternadori () found no dierence, but in a study by
Zerba (), narratives were rated as more interesting and more enjoyable, al-
though the dierence was only signicant for one of three topics. On the other
hand, Knobloch et al. () concluded that ratings of suspense and reading
enjoyment were signicantly higher for narratives than for inverted pyramids.
Similar results were also described by Yaros (), who concluded that journal-
istic science narratives also increase situational interest.
Research problem, research question and hypotheses
e Austrian Nutrition Report (Rust et al., ) emphasises that, com-
pared to the recommended intakes, Austrian citizens eat too much of some
nutritional ingredients (e.g., saturated fatty acids or added sugars), while eating
too little of others (e.g., polyunsaturated fatty acids or bre). It is therefore not
surprising that . of the Austrian population aged and over is overweight
or obese and . has chronic diseases (Statistik Austria, ). Moreover,
Gensthaler et al. () found a steady increase in body mass index and cardio-
vascular risk in Austrian male adolescents over years.
In order for an adult’s diet to provide all of the necessary nutrients, dif-
ferent foods need to be combined and dosed appropriately (Pudel & Westen-
höfer, ). For non-experts, it is dicult to grasp the connections between
dietary behaviour and future outcomes (e.g., long-term health eects) because
of the long intervening period, which cannot be experienced directly (Pudel &
Westenhöfer, ; see also hypothetical concepts above). Non-experts there-
fore depend heavily on nutrition information. However, more than half of Aus-
trians have an inadequate or problematic general health literacy (Sørensen et
al., ) and lack general nutrition knowledge (Gruber et al., ). For this
reason, the present study used journalistic science articles on nutrition as the
research object and the research question was formulated accordingly: “What
eects does a narrative writing style compared to an inverted pyramid writing
style have on the comprehension of and situational interest in journalistic online
nutrition science articles among Austrian non-experts in the health sciences?”
Schiefele and Krapp () showed that topic interest positively inu-
ences free recall of expository texts. erefore, individual interest must be tak-
en into account when studying comprehension and CL.
In order to address the dierent aspects of the research question, ve
: ...
research hypotheses were dened. Each hypothesis was derived from the nd-
ings of the literature review presented above. Since it is assumed that the nar-
rative structure is more familiar and less additional information elements need
to be retrieved, it is hypothesised that comprehension will be higher with the
narrative style than with the inverted pyramid style. If reading JSNs requires
less cognitive resources to retrieve information elements, it should also result in
less CL. To apply the previous considerations more generally (independent of
JSNs), the correlation between comprehension and CL is assessed. JSNs provide
information that is usually missing from inverted pyramid articles (continu-
ous causal plot and intentionally acting characters), which is hypothesised to
increase situational interest. Finally, it is hypothesised that situational interest
increases attention to a task, so comprehension should also increase with situ-
ational interest.
H: Aer controlling for individual interest, journalistic online science ar-
ticles on nutritional issues lead to signicantly higher comprehension in
non-experts when they are written in narrative compared to inverted
pyramid style.
H: Aer controlling for individual interest, non-experts’ cognitive load is
signicantly lower when reading journalistic online science articles on
nutritional issues written in narrative compared to inverted pyramid
style.
H: ere is a signicant negative correlation between non-experts’ compre-
hension of journalistic online science articles on nutritional issues and
their cognitive load while reading.
H: Aer controlling for individual interest, non-experts’ situational interest
in journalistic online science articles on nutritional issues is signicantly
higher when they are written in narrative compared to inverted pyramid
style.
H: ere is a signicant positive correlation between non-experts’ compre-
hension of journalistic science articles on nutritional issues and their
situational interest while reading.
Method
In this cross-sectional research, a (writing style: narrative, inverted
pyramid) × (topic: fatty acids, fructose, amino acids) mixed factorial design
was used. To increase external validity, the eect was analysed in dierent set-
tings (i.e., articles on dierent nutrition topics).
ournal
Participants
e inclusion criteria for participants in the research are: () they were
native speakers of German, () they were over years of age, and () they were
not nutrition experts. In addition, demographic information (age, gender, edu-
cation) was collected.
Participants were recruited via the University of Applied Sciences Burgen-
land newsletter and the online survey platforms surveycircle.com and surveyswap.
io. A total of respondents participated in the research. For quality reasons,
responses with incorrect attention test items () and participants who read an
article for seconds or less () were excluded (the cut-o point was chosen be-
forehand based on the reading time of two fast readers). Due to a technical prob-
lem, the complete self-reports of participants were not fully recorded. e nal
sample size therefore amounts to participants for the comprehension test and
participants ( female, male; under years old, equal to or above
years old; with an educational level below or equal to secondary school,
above secondary school) for the self-reports (see instruments).
e participants in the study were all volunteers, so no statements can be
made about those who chose not to participate. Furthermore, only subscribers
to the UAS Burgenland newsletter or individuals who participate in the two on-
line platforms could take part. erefore, the study sample is not representative
of the Austrian population and the results should be extrapolated with caution.
However, the purpose of the study was to make relative statements about how
the dependent variables change as a result of dierent stimuli. erefore, the
aim was not to obtain a representative sample (Brosius et al., ), but rather
to achieve a comparable distribution of the demographic characteristics of the
participants in the dierent groups. In support of this aim, all p-values for com-
parisons of demographic data between writing style groups were > ..
Instruments
Individual interest was measured using ve self-report items from Ap-
pel et al. (). All of the self-report items in the present study are -point
Likert-type items. One of the items loaded equally (weakly) on two factors and
was therefore excluded, resulting in a four-item scale (Cronbach’s α = .). An
example of the items is shown in Figure . e mean of the four items was cal-
culated so that the participants’ ratings ranged from one to ve points.
Perceived cognitive load was measured using the mental eort rating scale
and the perceived task diculty rating scale (based on the German version by
: ...
Schmeck et al., ). Furthermore, ve items on perceived processing uency
and topic knowledge were administered (based on Shulman & Sweitzer, ).
One item was excluded due to cross loadings, and two items were excluded
to increase internal consistency (nal Cronbach’s α = .). An example of the
items is shown in Figure . As the mean of the items was calculated, the partici-
pants’ ratings ranged from one to ve points.
Situational interest was measured using three self-report items from
Yaros (; ), which asked about the reader’s desire to continue reading at
dierent points in time, allowing for an estimation of changes in interest levels
during reading (Ainley et al., ). Since readers had to read the entire article,
an item was added asking them whether they would have read the entire article
if they had read it outside the study. Finally, two items from Appel et al. ()
and Früh and Frey () were added. e rst item (presented aer the rst
paragraph of the article) did not load suciently on the factor and was exclud-
ed. e remaining ve items have excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s
α = .). An example of the items is shown in Figure . e mean of the items
was calculated so that the participants’ ratings ranged from one to ve points.
Figure
Example of items from the individual interest questionnaire (translated from
German)
ournal
Figure
Example of items from the perceived cognitive load questionnaire (translated
from German)
Figure
Example of items from the situational interest questionnaire (translated from
German)
Conrmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the self-reports was performed
using SPSS AMOS (..). Comparison of the Akaike Information Criterion
(AIC) of the models including and excluding the item ‘Situational Interest ’
supported the exclusion of this item (Eaton & Willoughby, ). e χ statistic
is aected by sample size, so the result does not necessarily oppose a good t
(Babyak & Green, ). All other indices indicate that the model ts the data
(RMSEA, CFI, TLI (Hair et al., ); χ/df (Cole, ); see Table for details).
Internal validity (CR > .), convergent validity (AVE > .) and discriminant
: ...
validity (square roots of AVEs > inter-construct correlations) were achieved for
both latent variables (Hair et al., ).
Tabl e
Fit indices for CFA of self-reports
Sig. χ2χ2/df RMSEA CFI TLI
p < .01 137.57/74 = 1.86 < .06 .97 .96
Note. RMSEA – root mean square error of approximation; CFI – comparative fit index; TLI – Tucker-
Lewis index
Comprehension was measured using the four-tier multiple-choice
items from Ameseder et al. (). Using four-tier test questions makes it pos-
sible to identify comprehension (Gurel & Eryılmaz, ). For the purposes
of the present paper, only the answer (rst tier) and the reason for the answer
(third tier) were used. CFA was conducted for each topic separately (FACTOR
..; Ferrando & Lorenzo-Seva, ). Since the data are binary, Robust
Unweighted Least Squares estimators based on polychoric correlation matrices
were used. Aer excluding one item per topic, reliability was good for topics
and (>.; Ferrando & Lorenzo-Seva, ) and the factor determinacy in-
dex was adequate (>.; Grice, ). However, the reliability and the factor
determinacy index remained unsatisfactory for topic (. and ., respective-
ly). In addition, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure (Kaiser, ) and Bartlett’s
test of sphericity were not acceptable for topic (. and p = ., respectively),
which was therefore excluded. e t indices for the remaining -item scales
are shown in Table .
Tabl e
Fit indices for CFA of comprehension tests
Topic Sig. χ2*χ2*/df RMSEA AGFI CFI TLI
1p = .39 1.87/2 = .93 < .01 .99 1.00 1.00
3p = .37 1.99/2 = .10 < .01 .98 1.00 1.00
Note. * Robust mean- and variance-adjusted χ2; RMSEA – root mean square error of approximation;
AGFI – adjusted goodness-of-fit index; CFI – comparative fit index; TLI – Tucker-Lewis index
Figure shows an example of the items in the comprehension test. e
items were summed up so that the participants could obtain a minimum of zero
and a maximum of four points.
ournal
Figure
Example of a four-tier item from the comprehension test (translated from German)
Research design
e present study used a cross-sectional, between-subjects design. Two
factors were used, one with two levels (writing style: narrative and inverted
pyramid) and the other with three levels (topic: fatty acids, fructose and amino
acids). Varying the topic should enable the external validity to be increased
by examining the eect in dierent settings (see Figure for the procedure).
A pilot study was conducted to ensure the smooth ow of data collection, the
comprehensibility of the technical terms used in the stimulus texts and self-
reports, and the successful manipulation of the stimulus type.
: ...
Figure
Schematic illustration of the procedure
Before reading the science journalistic article (stimuli), the participants
were exposed to the individual interest questionnaire and were instructed to
read the stimuli at their own pace, just as they would read journalistic articles
in everyday life. To avoid inuencing their reading behaviour, there was no
prior knowledge test and the comprehension test was not mentioned in ad-
vance. e participants were randomly assigned to one of six groups (e.g., in-
verted pyramid science journalistic article on the topic fatty acids; for the other
groups see Table ). ere were no signicant dierences in individual interest
(U = ,., p = .), gender (X(, N = ) = ., p = .), age (U = ,.,
p=.), or education (X(, N = ) = ., p = .) between the narrative
and inverted pyramid conditions. us, random assignment to the conditions
seems to have been successful.
ournal
Tabl e
Participants randomly assigned to six groups according to the science journalistic
article writing style and nutrition topic; word count of individual articles
Writing style Topic 1
Fatty acids
Topic 2
Fructose
Topic 3
Amino acids
Narrative Group 1 (N = 67)
564 words
Group 3 (N = 80)
518 words
Group 5 (N = 86)
527 words
Inverted pyramid Group 2 (N = 67)
506 words
Group 4 (N = 79)
508 words
Group 6 (N = 82)
507 words
One of the six stimulus articles was then presented at random. ree
of the articles were written in narrative style and three in inverted pyramid
style (one narrative and one inverted pyramid per topic). Topics were chosen
in which existing knowledge and individual interest had already proven to be
low (Ameseder et al., ). As a basis for the stimuli, articles published in
by the three major online news providers in Austria (Highest reach in
according to http://www.oewa.at/plus/medienanalyse [accessed Febru-
ary ]) were selected. e articles covered the three macronutrients that are
important for a healthy human diet: carbohydrates (fructose), fats (fatty acids)
and proteins (amino acids). Each of the articles was adapted so that there was
a narrative version and an inverted pyramid version. To ensure comparability,
the stimuli: () are (re-)written by the same authors (Shen et al., ); () are
of comparable length in terms of word count (van Krieken et al., ; see Table
); () have a comparable readability index (LIX; Björnsson, ); () use the
same scientic terms (Yaros, ); () have the same number of headlines, and
() are written in the same grammatical tense.
A (neutral) visual appearance was maintained for all of the stimuli (no
logo/masthead, same typeface and layout, no images), so that they could not
be assigned to existing journalistic websites. e text properties were adapted
to the real conditions (based on all articles on the topic of nutrition from orf.at
and derstandard.at from ; N = ).
While the participants read the article, their reading time was measured
and they had to answer two situational interest items. Aer reading, they com-
pleted the remaining situational interest items and the cognitive load items.
ey then answered comprehension questions on the topic they had read. To
reduce order eects, the order of the items was randomised. Finally, the partici-
pants had to complete a manipulation check and provide demographic infor-
mation. ey were then thanked and received a debrieng.
: ...
Correlation with the dependent variables is a prerequisite for includ-
ing individual interest as a covariate in the analyses of hypotheses H, H and
H (Bortz & Schuster, ). erefore, the correlations between individual
interest and the dependent variables were assessed in advance. ere was a sig-
nicant correlation between individual interest and perceived cognitive load
(Pearson’s r = -., p < .; Spearman’s r = -., p < .) and between individual
interest and situational interest (Pearson’s r = ., p < .; Spearman’s r = ., p
< .). However, there was no signicant correlation between individual in-
terest and comprehension (Pearson’s r = ., p = .; Spearman’s r = ., p=
.). It is therefore assumed that the covariate has no eect on the variable
comprehension.
Normal distribution was assessed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, z-
score tests of skewness and kurtosis, and visual inspection, but was not de-
tected for comprehension, cognitive load or situational interest. erefore, an
independent-samples Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyse comprehen-
sion. To be able to use general linear model procedures (ANCOVAs) with in-
dividual interest included as a covariate for perceived cognitive load and situ-
ational interest, the data were transformed (taking the square root for perceived
cognitive load and the square root of (largest value + - value) for situational
interest). Perceived cognitive load was normally distributed aer the transfor-
mation. Based on z-score tests, transformed situational interest was also nor-
mally distributed, but not based on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. As paramet-
ric tests have been shown to be robust to non-normality (Blanca et al., ), an
ANCOVA was also used for situational interest. Means and standard deviations
are reported from untransformed data. Eect sizes were calculated and inter-
preted according to Cohen (). Finally, Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation
coecients were computed to assess the correlations in hypotheses H and H.
e research was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines
for pedagogical research. e research study was approved by the Academic
and Scientic Committee for Research and Doctoral Studies at the University
of Applied Sciences Burgenland.
Results
e Mann-Whitney U test indicated that comprehension test scores were
signicantly higher for readers of narratives (Mdn = ., mean rank = .)
than for readers of inverted pyramids (Mdn = ., mean rank = .),
U = ,., p < .. Consequently, the test scores support hypothesis H,
which predicts that comprehension is signicantly higher when journalistic
ournal
science articles are written in narrative style than when they are written in in-
verted pyramid style, with a small eect size (r = .; see Figure ).
Figure
Dierence in comprehension
Note. Mean (95% CI) and boxplot
e ANCOVA indicated that perceived cognitive load was signicant-
ly lower for readers of narratives than for readers of inverted pyramids, af-
ter controlling for individual interest, F(, ) = ., p < ., with M = .
(SD = .) for narratives and M = . (SD = .) for inverted pyramids. ere-
fore, the data support hypothesis H, which states that, aer controlling for in-
dividual interest, cognitive load is signicantly lower when journalistic science
articles are written in narrative style compared to inverted pyramid style, with
a small eect size (Cohen’s f = .; see Figure ).
ere was a signicant negative correlation between comprehension and
perceived cognitive load (Pearson’s r = -., p < .; Spearman’s r = -., p < .).
Decreases in perceived cognitive load were correlated with increases in com-
prehension test achievements, thus supporting hypothesis H, which hypoth-
esised a signicant negative correlation between comprehension of journalistic
science articles and the cognitive load while reading (see Figure ).
Figure
Dierence in perceived CL and correlation with comprehension (untransformed data)
Note. Mean (95% CI) and boxplot
: ...
e ANCOVA indicated that situational interest was signicantly
higher for readers of narratives than for readers of inverted pyramids, af-
ter controlling for individual interest, F(, ) = ., p < ., with M = .
(SD = .) for narratives and M = . (SD = .) for inverted pyramids. e
data therefore support hypothesis H, which predicts that, aer controlling for
individual interest, situational interest is signicantly higher when journalis-
tic science articles are written in narrative style compared to inverted pyra-
mid style, with a small eect size (Cohen’s f = .; see Figure ). As the rst
situational interest item (participants’ desire to continue reading aer the rst
paragraph) did not correlate suciently with the other items, the responses at
the three dierent stages of reading (aer the rst paragraph, aer two thirds
of the article and aer reading the article) were compared. e rst rating was
signicantly lower for narratives than for inverted pyramids (U = ,.,
p = ., r = -.). In contrast, the second and third ratings were signicantly
higher for narratives (U = ,., p < ., r = . and U = ,., p = .,
r = ., respectively).
ere was a signicant positive correlation between situational inter-
est and comprehension (Pearson’s r = ., p < ., Spearman’s r = ., p < .).
Increases in situational interest were correlated with increases in test scores,
thus supporting hypothesis H, which hypothesised a signicant positive cor-
relation between comprehension of journalistic science articles and situational
interest while reading (see Figure ).
Figure
Dierence in situational interest and correlation with comprehension
Note. Mean (95% CI) and boxplot
ournal
Discussion and conclusions
e present online study investigates the eect of journalistic science
narratives (JSNs) on reading comprehension and situational interest of non-
experts in health sciences.
e comprehension test shows that reading JSNs leads to higher com-
prehension compared to the inverted pyramid writing style, suggesting that
incidental learning is more likely to occur when reading JSNs than inverted
pyramids. e increased comprehension is consistent with previous studies
on general journalism (Kleemans et al., ) and science journalism (Yaros,
; Yaros & Cook, ). However, the results contradict previous studies on
textbooks (Cunningham & Gall, ) and general journalism (Sternadori,
; DeAngelo & Yegiyan, ). e use of a diagnostic (multiple-tier) test
in the present study extends the research of Kleemans et al. () by exam-
ining higher levels of cognitive processes and knowledge. It also extends the
research of Yaros () and Yaros and Cook () by providing evidence that
a narrative writing style improves comprehension in science journalism, even
when controlling for unfamiliar vocabulary. e present ndings, in conjunc-
tion with those of Sternadori (), suggest that causal links between events
may be crucial for the eects of JSNs on comprehension. Finally, DeAngelo and
Yegiyan () did not use a forced-reading design (participants could decide
how much of an article to read). erefore, requiring participants to read the
entire article may have contributed to the eect of JSNs on comprehension in
the present study.
In the present study, the perceived cognitive load (CL) was signicantly
lower for JSNs compared to inverted pyramids. is nding contradicts the
results of previous studies that have investigated perceived comprehensibility
(Früh & Frey, ; Zerba, ), where the direction of the eect varied de-
pending on the topic. e means and medians of perceived CL in the present
study suggest that reading the articles was not a high CL task. erefore, the
higher test scores in the narrative condition with ‘seductive details’ (plot and
characters) are consistent with the results of the low CL conditions of Park et
al. (). e additional details appear to increase processing motivation, as
indicated by higher situational interest. e negative correlation between com-
prehension of the information presented in the texts and perceived CL is con-
sistent with the Landscape Model of Reading. In inverted pyramids, related
information may not be automatically activated simultaneously by textual cues,
so more mental eort is needed to activate related information and identify
crucial relationships. Lower CL combined with higher comprehension may
: ...
indicate that relevant information was automatically activated to a greater ex-
tent than when CL was high and comprehension was low.
JSNs triggered higher situational interest than an inverted pyramid style,
which is consistent with ndings in the context of textbooks (Arya & Maul,
; Fernald, ), general journalism (Zerba, ; Knobloch et al., )
and science journalism (Yaros, ). However, the result contradicts studies on
general journalism (Kelly et al., ; Kleemans et al., ), which found jour-
nalistic narratives to be less interesting, as well as studies on textbooks (Cun-
ningham & Gall, ) and general journalism (Sternadori, ), which found
no dierence between the writing styles.
e time-based analysis indicates a gradual increase of situational in-
terest for JSNs. Situational interest was lower than in inverted pyramids aer
reading the rst paragraph, but higher for the remaining text. is nding may
explain the dierent results of earlier studies and is also consistent with the
selective exposure design in a study by DeAngelo and Yegiyan (). When
situational interest is low in the beginning, as in the JSNs of the present study,
individuals may not continue reading, i.e., they may not read all of the informa-
tion necessary for comprehension.
Signicant positive correlations between situational interest and com-
prehension of science information were found for topics (fatty acids) and
(amino acids), but not for topic (fructose). is is consistent with the nd-
ings of Durik and Harackiewicz (), Snětinová et al. (), Slapničar et al.
() and Yaros (), all of whom found positive correlations between situ-
ational interest and the knowledge that individuals develop during a particular
activity. Yaros reported signicant correlations for three out of four conditions
(. ≤ r ≤ .). In the present study, the overall correlation was r = ., with
higher individual correlations for topics (r = .) and (r = .). e indi-
vidual correlations also correspond to the average correlation (r = .) found in
a meta-analysis by Schiefele (). is result and the negative correlation be-
tween perceived cognitive load and situational interest (r = -., p < .) provide
further evidence that there is a cognitive component to the triggered situational
interest, as described in the Four-Phase Model (Hidi & Renninger, ; Ren-
ninger & Hidi, ).
As the material that was better understood in the present study required
less cognitive load and elicited more situational interest, it can be concluded
that incidental learning from science journalism involves situational interest
and cognitive load. e study further suggests that a narrative writing style with
a continuous, chronological plot and intentionally acting characters can im-
prove comprehension of and overall situational interest in science journalism
ournal
and reduce participants’ perceived cognitive load. It may therefore increase the
likelihood of message selection at the next encounter with science journalism,
thus creating new opportunities for incidental learning.
Situational interest in JSNs was signicantly lower aer the rst para-
graph than in the inverted pyramid, indicating a slow build-up of tension. One
challenge for narrative journalism is therefore to create situational interest from
the outset in order to facilitate incidental learning. Journalists may achieve this
by using a ‘reversal type’ structure (Knobloch et al., ), a combination of a
narrative and an inverted pyramid, or engaging images. In practice, journal-
ists could, for example, start from an interesting point in the present and then
jump back in time to describe an experiment chronologically. In addition, the
build-up of tension suggests that journalists can use JSNs to maintain readers’
situational interest. is is particularly important when dealing with complex
information in long-form journalism, where it is important that readers read
the whole article to understand the topic.
One limitation of the present study is the sampling method, which lim-
its the generalisability of the ndings. Online studies oer a less controllable
environment than studies in which participants are physically present (e.g.,
no control over environmental inuences or mindless choice of options, and
no opportunity to check the accuracy of demographic information or answer
clarication questions). However, in an anonymous study with few restrictions
on participation, it is likely that most of the information provided is accurate.
Attention controls were used to check whether the participants made arbitrary
decisions. Another factor is that an online study can only reach participants
who use the internet. However, internet use is high in Austria (.; Statistik
Austria, ) and of Austrians appear to use online platforms (including
social media) as their main source of news (Newman et al., ), so conduct-
ing a study online does not seem to be a major limitation in terms of access to
relevant participants and ecological validity. In the present study, however, the
resulting sample consisted mainly of Austrian students, which means that the
educational level was higher than average with regard to the Austrian popula-
tion. e sample also contained fewer male than female participants. As the
participants in Yaros () and Yaros and Cook () were also students (from
the USA), further research should use other samples (e.g., with lower levels of
education or from non-Western cultures) as the magnitude of the eect may
be dierent.
As the comprehension test was slightly delayed (shown aer the self-
reports), it may have assessed a combination of comprehension and memorisa-
tion (i.e., learning) rather than comprehension alone. erefore, future studies
: ...
should also examine comprehension and cognitive load over time (e.g., by ad-
ministering the comprehension test at dierent time points, as was done with
situational interest in the present study) to control for the inuence of the par-
ticipants’ memory abilities. ere was no prior knowledge test in the present
study, as such a test might have inuenced the participants’ reading behaviour
and, consequently, their test performance. Although all of the participants in
the study were non-experts in the eld, future studies could also investigate the
inuence of prior knowledge on the dependent variables according to writing
style.
e forced reading design limits the generalisability of the results. Indi-
viduals outside the study would stop reading if they lost interest in reading and
thus miss out on information. As the present study only investigated journalis-
tic articles on nutrition, generalisations to other science topics should be made
with caution, which means that further research is needed.
e present study only compared JSNs with inverted pyramids, so future
studies should investigate how a combination of writing styles or the use of im-
ages aects comprehension and situational interest at all stages of reading. An-
other direction for further research is to compare JSNs and inverted pyramids
with other types of text (e.g., explanatory) and to investigate the motivation to
engage with further science journalistic articles on the same or similar topics
aer reading JSNs compared to inverted pyramids (or other text types).
e correlation between situational interest and perceived cognitive
load leaves open the interpretation that subjective ratings of CL may be con-
founded by high situational interest. Future studies should therefore use dier-
ent and more objective measures of CL.
As the present study used a forced-reading design (i.e., the participants
were asked to read the whole article and not stop when they lost interest), the
results also shed light on the use of science journalistic texts in science edu-
cation. e participants learned the topic by reading journalistic texts, which
means that journalistic texts, especially JSNs, can also be benecial in an inten-
tional learning context. For example, when students are required to read JSNs
as part of their homework, situational interest is likely to occur in a similar way
as in the present study. is may increase students’ motivation to nish reading
the article, thereby increasing the likelihood of learning. In an educational ap-
plication, journalistic articles could also be discussed in the classroom to help
students understand the importance of scientic literacy so that they can un-
derstand such texts more easily and correctly.
ournal
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Biographical note
C A, PhD, is a lecturer at the University of Applied
Sciences Burgenland, Austria, and Head of Online Learning Technology at the
eLearning Academy for Communication, Austria. His research interests in-
clude learning experience design, public understanding of science, incidental
science learning, storytelling, and data visualization.
I D, PhD, is a full professor in the eld of chemistry edu-
cation at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. His re-
search interest covers the triple nature of chemical concepts, chemical concepts
misconceptions, chemical knowledge assessment, environmental chemistry
education, and scientic literacy.
D S, PhD, is Associate Professor of Didactics of Slovenian
language at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Her re-
search interests include language development of preschool children, early lit-
eracy, the role of preschool teachers in early literacy, and Slovenian as a second/
foreign language.
