Pictorial enhancement of text memory: Limitations imposed by picture type and comprehension skill

Waddill, Paula J.; McDaniel, Mark A.

doi:10.3758/bf03199580

Cited by 55 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In addition, they report robust mnemonic benefits of adding pictures to text. Waddill and McDaniel (1992) show, however, that the mnemonic effects of picture adjuncts can depend on individual differences in reading comprehension. Moreover, in line with the idea that pictures might assist in the construction of a model, pictures designed to target more abstract relational information conveyed in the text (e.g., contrastive relations between two different entities) increased memory for relational information in the text, at least for some readers.…”

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confidence: 78%

Mental models, pictures, and text: Integration of spatial and verbal information

Glenberg

McDaniel

1992

Memory & Cognition

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In the past several years, there has been an acceleration in the publication of cognitive research on the interplay between linguistic and pictorial/spatial information. To report on and encourage this sort of research, we organized a symposium at the 1991 meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association. The articles in this special section of Memory & Cognition are based on the work presented at the symposium. In this introduction, we offer a suggestion for why the integration of linguistic and spatial information is not only a possibility, but a requirement for effective communication. Our suggestion follows the linguistic analysis of the closed-class elements that convey spatial relations, the prepositions (Talmy, 1983). The structure of language provides but a small set of prepositions to encode the vast number of spatial relations that we can perceive. Thus, to understand a situation that a speaker or a writer is conveying, the listener or reader must combine linguistic information with (perhaps metric) spatial information derived from pictures, the environment, or memory.In 1991, at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, we held a symposium on the recent surge in research on the relation between language, visuospatial information, and visuospatial modes of communication (pictures, diagrams, maps, etc.). Heretofore, cognitive psychologists have seized on the nominal, surface differences between linguistic and visuospatial presentations as a useful distinction for guiding and circumscribing research on comprehension and memory. This strategy has produced an informative and rich literature on comprehension of connected discourse, and a somewhat less extensive literature on processing and memory for representational drawing, pictures, and maps. Yet the sufficiency of this distinction for creating a fruitful experimental enterprise may not be mimicked in the sufficiency of these modes for individually supporting effective communication.For instance, consider the assertion by Taylor and Tversky (1992a, p. 495) that "Language is a surrogate for experience. " If this were not so, it would be hard to understand how language could be used to inform us about events and objects with which we had no direct contact. Nonetheless, language can be distinctly inferior to ex- perience. Our perceptual apparatus delivers (usually) veridical, organized, detailed representations. Language may not do any of that. In particular, the structure of language is particularly ill-suited for communicating the spatial organization to which our perceptual apparatus seems tuned.The problem of language and space is revealed by an analysis of closed-elass (i.e., limited in size and hard to add to) grammatical terms used to indicate spatial relations. In English, only some SO-I00 prepositions are used to convey spatial relations (Jackendoff & Landau, 1991). These are words such as above, across, nearby, and upon. Clearly, however, our perceptual apparatus can make much finer metric distinctions. When we wish to use langu...

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confidence: 78%

Mental models, pictures, and text: Integration of spatial and verbal information

Glenberg

McDaniel

1992

Memory & Cognition

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“…Pictures enable the extraction and retention of information that readers do not encode effectively (McDaniel and Waddil, 1994). Pictures highlighting details effectively increased the recall of those details, and picture-depicting relationships effectively increased recall of that relational information (Waddil and McDaniel, 1992).…”

Section: Text-picture Combinationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive and dynamic visualizations in teaching and learning of anatomy: A cognitive load perspective

Khalil¹,

Paas²,

Johnson³

et al. 2005

The Anatomical Record Part B

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With the increasing use of computers in the classroom and the advancement of information technology, a requirement to investigate and evaluate different strategies for the presentation of verbal information in interactive and dynamic visualizations has risen to a high level of importance. There is a need for research efforts that apply cognitive load theory (CLT), cognitive learning strategies, and established principles of multimedia design to conduct empirical research that will add to our knowledge of designing and developing dynamic visualizations for teaching and learning anatomy. The impact of improved teaching and learning of anatomical sciences and the development of a set of guiding principles to facilitate the design and development of effective dynamic visualizations represent a significant achievement for medical education with wide application. This theoretical paper presents the foundations of CLT, cognitive learning strategies, and principles of multimedia design to guide the needed research on dynamic visualizations. Anat Rec (Part B: New Anat) 286B:8 -14, 2005.

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“…Waddill and McDaniel (1992) noticed that although simple pictures could increase readers' memory for the item depicted, the inclusion of a complex picture was only helpful to skilled readers. So it is possible that there may be two separable factors, one relating to skill at dealing with the verbal aspects of text and one relating to the ability to interpret diagrammatic representations.…”

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confidence: 99%

Static and animated graphics in learning from interactive texts

1999

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u.s.Animating the graphics in electronic documents may increase readers' willingness to study them but may impair or distort the processes of gist comprehension. Experiment 1 confirmed that, compared with static diagrams, animation increased readers' willingness to study a range of graphic genres (maps, time-lines, drawings of unfamiliar objects). Total reading time was also increased but readers' differential access of static and animated graphics confounded the interpretation ofimmediate and delayed retention tests. Experiment 2 contrasted the effects of accessing the graphics before or during reading. Scores on a quiz immediately after reading were significantly higher when the graphics were seen before rather than during reading, suggesting that readers found it difficult to integrate the graphics while still building the gist of the text. Scores on both an immediate and a delayed quiz were significantly higher when the graphics were static rather than animated. One pointer to the cause of the decrement with animated graphics was that the quiz performance of readers having animated graphics correlated with their scores on a picture memory test, whereas those of readers with static graphics did not. In contrast the delayed quiz scores ofreaders with static graphics showed a significant interaction with their performance on a digit memory task. Readers with high scores on digit memory benefited from accessing the graphics while reading, but readers with low scores on the digit test were impaired by such access during reading. This suggests that the cognitive skills needed for integrating text with animated graphics may differ from those needed for dealing with static graphics.The inclusion of illustrations in a text can have complex effects on readers. For example, it has been found that readers' confidence increases although their recognition accuracy

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Pictorial enhancement of text memory: Limitations imposed by picture type and comprehension skill

Cited by 55 publications

References 31 publications

Mental models, pictures, and text: Integration of spatial and verbal information

Mental models, pictures, and text: Integration of spatial and verbal information

Interactive and dynamic visualizations in teaching and learning of anatomy: A cognitive load perspective

Static and animated graphics in learning from interactive texts

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