Mayer, R.E., & Sims, V.K. (1994). For whom is a picture worth 1000 words - extensions of a dual-coding theory of multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(3), 389-401.

Mayer, R.; Sims, V.

1994

Mayer, R.E., & Sims, V.K. (1994). For whom is a picture worth 1000 words - extensions of a dual-coding theory of multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(3), 389-401.

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In 2 experiments, high- and low-spatial ability students viewed a computer-generated animation and listened simultaneously (concurrent group) or successively (successive group) to a narration that explained the workings either of a bicycle tire pump (Experiment 1) or of the human respiratory system (Experiment 2). The concurrent group generated more creative solutions to subsequent transfer problems than did the successive group; this contiguity effect was strong for high- but not for low-spatial ability students. Consistent with a dual-coding theory, spatial ability allows high-spatial learners to devote more cognitive resources to building referential connections between visual and verbal representations of the presented material, whereas low-spatial ability learners must devote more cognitive resources to building representation connections between visually presented material and its visual representation.

There was a contiguity effect in which students who received the simultaneous presentation performed better on the problem-solving test than did students who received the successive presentation or no instruction. High-spatial ability students who received the concurrent presentation of animation and narration generated approximately 50% more creative solutions on transfer problems than did high-spatial ability students who received successive presentation or no instruction. Low-spatial ability students who received concurrent presentation of animation and narration generated approximately the same number of creative solutions on transfer problems as did students who received successive presentation.

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