Bieger, G. & Glock, M. Comprehending spatial and contextual information in picture-text Instructions. Journal of Experimental Education, 54, 181-188.

Bieger, G,; Glock, M.

1986

Bieger, G. & Glock, M. Comprehending spatial and contextual information in picture-text Instructions. Journal of Experimental Education, 54, 181-188.

The information content of picture-text instructions for two assembly tasks was classified according to a taxonomy of Information ( Bieger & Glock, 1984). The location, in picture or text, of spatial, contextual, and operational information was then experimentally manipulated and the effect on comprehension was assessed by measuring the speed and accuracy of perform ance of 120 undergraduate students. It was found that textual presentation of spatial information produced fewer errors, while pictorial presentation of spatial information reduced performance times dramatically. It was further found that pictorial presentation of contextual information substantially reduced assembly times and slightly reduced the number of assembly errors. There were no differences between pictorial and textual depiction of operational information. Results are discussed in terms of implications for the design of instructional materials and the acquisition of information from picture-text materials.

In summary, there was little effect on performance of variations in the mode of presentation of operational information. Performance times were reduced when spatial and/or contextual information were presented pictorially. Acccuracy of performance was improved slightly when spatial information was presented textually. And finally, the effect of pictorial depiction was greater for spatial information than for contextual information, except in high level subassemblies, where the effect of pictorial depiction of contextual information suppressed the presentation effect of spatial information.

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