The Impact of Visual Aid Displays Showing a Manipulative Task

A moving film and a filmstrip, composed of line drawings, were compared in respect of their efficacy in imparting instruction about a manual task. Their respective effects were tested by making the subjects actually perform the task. The chief aims of the experiment were, firstly, to determine the manner in which material presented pictorially is utilized in the approach to and execution of the task and, secondly, to assess the special effects, if any, of motion and photographic realism in the presentation. The approach both to the perception of the material and to the execution of the task was found to be essentially constructive. For this reason much that is usually presented is superfluous while, on the other hand, points of principle necessary to adequate construction are often insufficiently clarified or emphasized. No significant difference between the moving film and the filmstrip presentation was found. It is concluded that aspects of visual aid material, such as motion and photographic realism, which are commonly assumed to be of special cognitive importance, do not themselves play a unique rôle.