TY - JOUR

T1 - Does cognitive load moderate the seductive details effect? A multimedia study

AU - Park, Babette

AU - Moreno, Roxana

AU - Seufert, Tina

AU - Brünken, Roland

PY - 2011/1

Y1 - 2011/1

N2 - Several studies have shown that adding seductive details to instructional materials has a detrimental effect on learning. However, other studies have shown non-significant findings. The present study uses cognitive load theory as a theoretical framework to explain these controversial results in seductive details research. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design we asked a group of high-school students (N = 100) to learn about biology with a multimedia environment that manipulated the presence of seductive details (with vs. without) and the modality of the verbal information (high load, on-screen text vs. low load, narration). The findings showed that students' learning performance was significantly higher when seductive details were presented under the low load condition (narration) as compared to all other conditions. The theoretical implications for understanding the effects of non-redundant and interesting, but irrelevant learning material are discussed and future research directions are presented.

AB - Several studies have shown that adding seductive details to instructional materials has a detrimental effect on learning. However, other studies have shown non-significant findings. The present study uses cognitive load theory as a theoretical framework to explain these controversial results in seductive details research. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design we asked a group of high-school students (N = 100) to learn about biology with a multimedia environment that manipulated the presence of seductive details (with vs. without) and the modality of the verbal information (high load, on-screen text vs. low load, narration). The findings showed that students' learning performance was significantly higher when seductive details were presented under the low load condition (narration) as compared to all other conditions. The theoretical implications for understanding the effects of non-redundant and interesting, but irrelevant learning material are discussed and future research directions are presented.

KW - Cognitive load

KW - Modality

KW - Motivation

KW - Multimedia learning

KW - Redundancy

KW - Seductive details

KW - Educational science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78449282363&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.chb.2010.05.006

DO - 10.1016/j.chb.2010.05.006

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:78449282363

VL - 27

SP - 5

EP - 10

JO - Computers in Human Behavior

JF - Computers in Human Behavior

SN - 0747-5632

IS - 1

ER -