How Brief Initial Inspection of a Picture May Foster Comprehension of Text (original) (raw)
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How a Picture Can Scaffold Comprehension of Text
STAGING KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF REPRESENTATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING?, 2012
Abstract. We tested the assumption that global spatial information is rapidly extracted from causal system pictures and can be used as a mental scaffold to support mental model construction and thus comprehension of text (scaffolding assumption). Students (N= 84) learned about the structure and function of pulley systems from text or from text with previous presentation of a picture for 600ms, 2sec, or self-paced. Students' eye movements on blank screen while listening to text and comprehension of the pulley system's functioning were ...
The Role of Static and Animated Pictures That Complement Texts in Supporting Learning
K Ta, 2005
Pictures are widely used to accompany texts as adjuncts to facilitate learning. This article discusses the role of such a combination in supporting learning and the underlying theory that explains how individuals process visual and verbal information and how they can benefit from such a combination. It is hypothesized that the facilitative effect of picture-text combination is attributed to the supportive role of pictures played in the cognitive processing involved in mental model building of the situation being explained.
Comprehension and memory for pictures
Memory & Cognition, 1975
The thesis advanced is that people remember nonsensical pictures much better if they comprehend what they are about. Two experiments supported this thesis. In the first, nonsensical "droodles" were studied by subjects with or without an accompanying verbal interpretation of the pictures. Free recall was much better for subjects receiving the interpretation during study. Also, a later recognition test showed that subjects receiving the interpretation rated as more similar to the original picture a distractor which was close to the prototype of the interpreted category. In Experiment II, subjects studied pairs of nonsensical pictures, with or without a linking interpretation provided. Subjects who heard a phrase identifying and interrelating the pictures of a pair showed greater associative recall and matching than subjects who received no interpretation. The results suggest that memory is aided whenever contextual cues arouse appropriate schemata into which the material to be learned can be fitted.
Pictorial enhancement of text memory: Limitations imposed by picture type and comprehension skill
Memory & Cognition, 1992
We examined the kinds of information in a prose passage that is better remembered when depictive illustrations are embedded in the passage than when the passage contains no illustrations. Experiment 1 showed that (1) pictures depicting details effectively increased recall of those details and (2) pictures depicting relationships effectively increased recall of that relational information (relative to a no-picture control condition). In Experiment 2, comprehension skill was found to modulate the general effects obtained in Experiment 1. Detail pictures enhanced the recall of targeted details for all skill levels. Relational pictures enhanced recall of pictured relational information for highly skilled and moderately skilled comprehenders, but not for less skilled comprehenders. Because there were no recall differences across the different skill levels in the nopicture control condition, it is suggested that pictures may serve to enable processing in which readers would not necessarily engage under ordinary circumstances. Pictures, however, did not appear to compensate for limitations reflected in lower scores on a standardized test of reading comprehension.
Inspecting a picture before reading affects attentional processing but not comprehension
Educational Psychology
This study investigated whether presenting a picture before reading can encourage situation-model construction. We compared two conditions (n ΒΌ 30) which differed in whether a picture of the initial situation described in a narrative text was presented before reading (i.e. pictorial-support condition) or not (i.e. no-picture condition). Situation-model construction was measured using both process-and product-oriented measures. Eye-tracking data indicated online resource allocation to the different levels of text representation: surface, textbase, and situation model. Literal text questions and inference questions were used as an offline indication of textbase and situation-model processing, respectively. The results showed that a picture presented before reading led to a redistribution of processing resources during reading, evidenced by a shift from textbase to situation-model processing. This attentional shift did not translate into higher comprehension scores. The results were interpreted in line with multimedia learning theories suggesting pictures can serve as a mental scaffold for situation-model construction.
Learning from Animated Diagrams: How Are Mental Models Built?
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2008
Current approaches to the design of educational animations too often appear to be largely founded upon intuition rather than research-based principles. Animated diagrams designed to be behaviourally realistic run the risk of learners overlooking vital high relevance information that has low intrinsic perceptual salience. The information that learners extract from such representations is a poor basis upon which to build high quality dynamic mental models. For animated diagrams to be effective as tools for learning, their design should be based upon explicit and principled modeling of the way learners process such depictions. This paper synthesizes recent research to propose a theoretical framework for learners' perceptual and conceptual processing of animated diagrams. A five-stage model is presented that characterizes the role of different levels of processing in building dynamic mental models of the depicted content.
Educational Psychology Review, 1993
Over the last 10 years, text comprehension research has undergone profound theoretical and methodological upheaval. Today, psychologists study language and texts because they present the trace markers of structures and cognitive operations. A text is no longer seen as a vehicle for conveying constructed meaning. Rather, text has been redefined as merely a structured sequence of stimuli, which activates both domain-related knowledge triggered by text information and linguistic knowledge. We present the theoretical views and experimental findings of the TEXTIMA group, characterized by the importance of the connectionist concepts.