Project team
Investigating the Integration of Text and Pictures in Working Memory
Duration
September 2011 - open end
Funding
KMRC budget resources
Description
This Ph.D. project investigates if there is an integration process of text and picture during multimedia learning. The theoretical background of this project is the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer, 2009). According to Mayer, the integration process is the most crucial step in learning with text and pictures and makes significant contributions to learning success. Thus, the aim of the Ph.D project is to test the existence of the integration process by using a modified paradigm introduced by Gentner and Loftus (1979). Learners are instructed to memorize series of general and specific pictures that are presented together with general or specific sentences. For instance, subjects see a picture of a tower (general) or a lighthouse. The picture is introduced together with the sentence “There is only a tower on that small island” (general) or “There is only a lighthouse on that small island”.
General picture (left) shows a tower and specific picture (right) shows a lighthouse.
If text and picture are integrated with each other, learners should incorporate the specific information of the picture and the general information of the sentence (and vice versa), thus resulting in an integrated model that contains the specific information. For example, the specific picture of the lighthouse is presented together with the general sentence “There is only a tower on that small island”. The resulting integrated model should contain the specific information of the lighthouse. As a consequence, learners should falsely recognize the specific sentence (“There is only a lighthouse on that small island”). First results provide evidence that text-picture integration takes place. Additional studies are planned to examine the manifestation of the resulting integrated model and to find possibilities supporting the integration process.