Hypertext: Attraction and distraction. The effects of hypertext link positioning and node content on inter-sentence integration

Previous research on subjects' integration of knowledge when reading traditional text has established that readers can combine information separately acquired from two sentences to form new ideas. The present research examines the possibility that in a computer text environment, the dispersion of sentence information via hypertext links may interfere with this knowledge integration.; Results of the present experiments demonstrated that subjects reading hypertext passages were more successful in integrating information from sentence pairs with no links positioned between the sentences than when links were positioned between the sentences. Subjects were also more successful when links pointed to (node) text containing information directly related to the sentences they interrupted than when node information was unrelated to the sentences. Furthermore, some subjects appeared better able than others to attend to the interruptions and separations of text caused by hypertext.; A pilot study and two experiments tested the hypertext effects caused both by the dispersion of text due to presence of links and by the addition of text in the form of node content. The study and experiments presented pairs of sentences for integration in different ways: manipulating the positions of the hypertext links and the content of node texts. The second experiment also compared the dispersion of sentences in a hypertext format to dispersion in a non-computer (traditional text) format and the findings demonstrated similarities of successful integration suggesting parallels between traditional text and hypertext environments.; Results of the present experiments should encourage authors of hypertext to exercise appropriate caution when designing instructional materials, and to consider text structure in relation to readers' ability levels. The results also suggest a strategy for teaching the reading of hypertext which may reduce the unwanted effects on knowledge integration which occur when readers access hypertext links.