Does the Modality Effect in Multimedia Learning Appear only with Text Containing Spatial Information

Abstract.The current study tested the assumption that the modality effect in multimedia learning only appears when the text conveys spatial rather than non-spatial information. This assumption is based on findings from working memory research suggesting that the processing of spatial text contents and the execution of eye movements during reading may interfere with each other in visuo-spatial working memory. To test this hypothesis, 80 students were randomly assigned to four groups, resulting from a 2 × 2 design with text modality (spoken vs. written text) and text contents (visual vs. spatial) as between-subject factors. Learning outcomes were measured by means of text and picture recognition. Eye movements were recorded during learning. The results did not confirm the expected interaction between text content and text modality. In addition, the main effect of text modality effect was limited to picture recognition but did not appear for text recognition. This modality effect was mediated by the amount o...

[1]  Sharon K Tindall-Ford,et al.  When two sensory modes are better than one , 1997 .

[2]  Huib K. Tabbers,et al.  Where did the Modality Principle in Multimedia Learning Go? A ­Double Replication Failure that Questions Both Theory and Practical Use , 2011 .

[3]  P. Chandler,et al.  The Role of Visual Indicators in Dual Sensory Mode Instruction , 1997 .

[4]  Barrie Gunter,et al.  Children's and adults' recall of children's news stories in both print and audio-visual presentation modalities , 2002 .

[5]  Slava Kalyuga,et al.  Incorporating Learner Experience into the Design of Multimedia Instruction. , 2000 .

[6]  James C. Lester,et al.  The Case for Social Agency in Computer-Based Teaching: Do Students Learn More Deeply When They Interact With Animated Pedagogical Agents? , 2001 .

[7]  Chiara Meneghetti,et al.  Visuospatial working memory and mental representation of spatial descriptions , 2005 .

[8]  V. Gyselinck,et al.  The role of working memory components in multimedia comprehension , 2008 .

[9]  Paul Ginns.  Meta-Analysis of the Modality Effect. , 2005 .

[10]  Katharina Scheiter,et al.  Explaining the split-attention effect: Is the reduction of extraneous cognitive load accompanied by an increase in germane cognitive load? , 2009, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[11]  Katharina Scheiter,et al.  Learning with hypermedia: The influence of representational formats and different levels of learner control on performance and learning behavior , 2009, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[12]  Peter E. Doolittle.  Multimedia Learning and Working Memory Capacity , 2009 .

[13]  Richard E. Mayer,et al.  Multimedia Learning. Second Edition. , 2009 .

[14]  W. Howard Levie,et al.  Effects of text illustrations: A review of research , 1982 .

[15]  R. Beni.  Learning from Texts or Lectures: Loci Mnemonics can Interfere with Reading but not with Listening , 1997 .

[16]  Florian Schmidt-Weigand,et al.  Does Animation Amplify the Modality Effect – or is there any Modality Effect at All? , 2011 .

[17]  R. Mayer,et al.  A Split-Attention Effect in Multimedia Learning: Evidence for Dual Processing Systems in Working Memory , 1998 .

[18]  Michael Eid,et al.  Welchen Einfluss haben die Präsentationsmodalität und Modalitätspräferenzen auf die kognitive Verarbeitung von Text mit Bildern , 2007 .

[19]  Jukka Hyönä,et al.  The Use of Eye Movements in the Study of Multimedia Learning. , 2010 .

[20]  Roland Brünken,et al.  Working Memory Interference During Processing Texts and Pictures: Implications for the Explanation of the Modality Effect , 2010 .

[21]  A. Baddeley,et al.  The selective disruption of spatial working memory by eye movements , 2006, Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[22]  Michel Denis,et al.  Visuospatial working memory and the processing of spatial descriptions. , 2006, British journal of psychology.

[23]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models , 2004, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[24]  G. Jahn.  Three turtles in danger: spontaneous construction of causally relevant spatial situation models. , 2004, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[25]  Katharina Scheiter,et al.  Boundary Conditions and Constraints of the Modality Effect , 2011 .

[26]  Katharina Scheiter,et al.  The perceptual basis of the modality effect in multimedia learning. , 2011, Journal of experimental psychology. Applied.

[27]  Richard E. Mayer,et al.  Multimedia Learning , 2001, Visible Learning Guide to Student Achievement.

[28]  Eliane Segers,et al.  Cognitive processes in children's multimedia text learning , 2008 .

[29]  K. Scheiter,et al.  Explaining the modality effect in multimedia learning: Is it due to a lack of temporal contiguity with written text and pictures? , 2012 .

[30]  Florian Schmidt-Weigand,et al.  A closer look at split visual attention in system- and self-paced instruction in multimedia learning , 2010 .

[31]  L. Brooks.  The Suppression of Visualization by Reading , 1967, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[32]  R. Logie,et al.  Visuo-spatial working memory: Visual, spatial, or central executive? , 1991 .

[33]  B. Tversky,et al.  Spatial mental models derived from survey and route descriptions , 1992 .

[34]  R. Flesch.  A new readability yardstick. , 1948, The Journal of applied psychology.

[35]  R. Mayer,et al.  Multimedia Learning: The Promise of Multimedia Learning , 2001 .

[36]  J. K. Eddy,et al.  Representation of images in sentence verification , 1985 .

[37]  J. Sweller,et al.  Cognitive load theory, modality of presentation and the transient information effect. , 2011 .

[38]  Janet Kleber,et al.  On the Robustness of the Modality ­Effect: Attempting to Replicate a Basic Finding , 2011 .

[39]  R. Mayer,et al.  Does the modality principle for multimedia learning apply to science classrooms , 2007 .

[40]  F. Paas,et al.  Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design , 1998 .

[41]  A. Baddeley,et al.  Pattern span: a tool for unwelding visuo–spatial memory , 1999, Neuropsychologia.

[42]  R. Logie.  Visuo-spatial Working Memory , 1994 .

[43]  H. Tabbers,et al.  The modality of text in multimedia instructions:Refining the design guidelines. , 2002 .

[44]  R. Moreno,et al.  Does the modality principle hold for different media? A test of the method-affects-learning hypothesis , 2006, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[45]  G. Woodman,et al.  Visual search is slowed when visuospatial working memory is occupied , 2004, Psychonomic bulletin & review.