A picture is worth a thousand connections: the facilitative effects of diagrams on mental model development and task performance

This study investigated the influence of training format on knowledge structure development and how differing knowledge structure measurement techniques can be used to best assess training effectiveness. The presence of diagrams was manipulated in a computer-based training tutorial designed to assess mental model development and knowledge acquisition. Participants presented with diagrams were more likely to accurately draw connections across modules of the training. Diagrams also facilitated performance on measures of integrative knowledge but not on measures of declarative knowledge. The results are discussed in the context of mental model theory.

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