Chapter 13 Graphical and Textual Presentations in Financial Reports (original) (raw)

The use of separate graphs and texts to disclose information is a frequent occurrence in corporate annual reports. Multiple sources of information does not enhance understanding of users of financial statements. This chapter compares spatially separated text and graphs with integrated presentations that aim at bringing text and graphs as close as possible to each other. The chapter begins by illustrating the concept of split attention. Cognitive load arises when disparate sources of accounting information need to be mentally integrated by users. An experiment using separate text and diagrams is then presented to demonstrate how participants can deal with cognitive overload when reading split-attention material. Using two instructional design formats, the split-attention format and the integrated format, first-year accounting students were used as surrogates for financial report user groups such as employees and shareholders. The presence of the split-attention effect in the financia...