Why does signaling enhance multimedia learning? Evidence from eye movements

Effects of cue and instructor demonstration on the learning of Chinese characters for Chinese as a second language beginners

This study purports to investigate the effects of cue and instructor demonstration on Chinese as a second language (CSL) beginners' Chinese character learning performance, cognitive load, learning motivation and attitude. In the current research, 100 CSL beginners were randomly assigned to four experimental groups, i.e., instructor demonstration cued character, instructor demonstration non-cued character, non-instructor demonstration cued character and non-instructor demonstration non-cued character. Participants were instructed to watch an instructional video and subsequently complete a post-test and a questionnaire. The results show that (1) in the presence of instructor demonstration, the cued characters can noticeably reduce CSL beginners' cognitive load and enhance their learning attitudes towards character learning, enabling them to achieve better performance in character stroke but not in radical and structure, and (2) in the presence of cued characters, the instructor demonstration can noticeably reduce CSL beginners' cognitive load and increase their learning motivation and attitudes towards character learning but can not improve their character learning performance. The findings have significant implications for educators and instructional designers of Chinese and other non-alphabetic languages, such as Kanji and Hangul.

The Impact of Color Cues on the Learning Performance in Video Lectures

This study explores the learning effects of color cues in video lectures and their underlying mechanisms. With the rapid growth of online education, lifelong learning, and blended learning, video lectures have become integral to teaching and learning. Color, a crucial element in visual design, directs attention, organizes content, and integrates information. Evaluating 78 college students, we assessed learning performance by comparing video content with no-color, single-color, and multi-color cues using eye-tracking technology and cognitive load scales. Results indicate that students viewing videos with color cues demonstrated better retention and transfer test performance, while absence or excess of color cues increased cognitive load. These findings have practical implications for video producers and provide a theoretical foundation for enhancing learners' viewing experience and overall effectiveness. This study not only offers an in-depth analysis of color cue utilization in video lectures, highlighting their positive impact on learning outcomes but also introduces fresh perspectives for educational technology and cognitive psychology research. Future investigations should consider color cue effects in diverse cultural contexts and subject areas, exploring varied strategies to optimize the learning experience.

A study on the effect of different channel cues on learning in immersive 360° videos

Immersive 360° videos are of interest to educators because of their ability to provide immersive sensory experience and other features. This study examined the effects of four cue conditions on 360° video learning performance, attention, cognitive load, and mood using eye-tracking devices, brainwave meters, and subjective questionnaires. The randomly assigned participants (n = 62) did go to the experimental group (visual cues only, auditory cues only, and audiovisual cues) or the control group (no cues). The results showed that visual and audiovisual cues effectively guide learners' attention to the related learning content, reduce cognitive load during learning, and improve retention performance but have no significant effect on knowledge transfer or long-term memory. Auditory cues increase the number of times learners look at the related learning content but do not affect gaze duration and distract their attention, hindering the acquisition of relevant learning content. The study also found that visual cues effectively increase the number of times learners looked at the content. However, they do not affect gaze duration. The study also revealed that visual cues effectively increase learners' relaxation when viewing 360° videos. The study's findings can provide a reference for the instructional processing of information related to 360° video design and its practical application in teaching.

Spatial ability and 3D model colour-coding affect anatomy performance: a cross-sectional and randomized trial

Photorealistic 3D models (PR3DM) have great potential to supplement anatomy education; however, there is evidence that realism can increase cognitive load and negatively impact anatomy learning, particularly in students with decreased spatial ability. These differing viewpoints have resulted in difficulty in incorporating PR3DM when designing anatomy courses. To determine the effects of spatial ability on anatomy learning and reported intrinsic cognitive load using a drawing assessment, and of PR3DM versus an Artistic colour-coded 3D model (A3DM) on extraneous cognitive load and learning performance. First-year medical students participated in a cross-sectional (Study 1) and a double-blind randomised control trial (Study 2). Pre-tests analysed participants' knowledge of anatomy of the heart (Study 1, N = 50) and liver (Study 2, N = 46). In Study 1, subjects were first divided equally using a mental rotations test (MRT) into low and high spatial ability groups. Participants memorised a 2D-labeled heart valve diagram and sketched it rotated 180°, before self-reporting their intrinsic cognitive load (ICL). For Study 2, participants studied a liver PR3DM or its corresponding A3DM with texture-homogenisation, followed by a liver anatomy post-test, and reported extraneous cognitive load (ECL). All participants reported no prior anatomy experience. Participants with low spatial ability (N = 25) had significantly lower heart drawing scores (p = 0.001) than those with high spatial ability (N = 25), despite no significant differences in reported ICL (p = 0.110). Males had significantly higher MRT scores than females (p = 0.011). Participants who studied the liver A3DM (N = 22) had significantly higher post-test scores than those who studied the liver PR3DM (N = 24) (p = 0.042), despite no significant differences in reported ECL (p = 0.720). This investigation demonstrated that increased spatial ability and colour-coding of 3D models are associated with improved anatomy performance without significant increase in cognitive load. The findings are important and provide useful insight into the influence of spatial ability and photorealistic and artistic 3D models on anatomy education, and their applicability to instructional and assessment design in anatomy.

The effect of structured stepwise presentations on students' fraction learning: an eye-tracking study

The structured stepwise presentation is based on the segmenting and cueing principles. The main purpose of the study was to examine the effect of the structured stepwise presentations on students' attention and fraction learning. A total of 100 primary pupils participated in this study. They were divided into three parallel groups and were, respectively, applied three kinds of presentation types (structured and stepwise, no structure and stepwise, and structure and no stepwise) of the teaching content to learn the fraction concept. A stable eye tracker was used to record students' visual attention during learning, the first fixation duration and total fixation duration of students were recorded, and the regression time was also calculated within correspondent relative elements. After the experiment, through a one-way ANOVA test, we found significant differences among the three groups in students' attention. The learning performance of these three groups also differed. The results showed that structured stepwise presentation played an important role in attention guidance during fraction teaching. It better guided students' attention to connecting relative elements and resulted in better learning performance in fraction learning. The findings suggested the importance of structured stepwise presentations during teaching practices.

Individual differences in selective attention and engagement shape students’ learning from visual cues and instructor presence during online lessons

Although some researchers recommend minimizing extraneous visual information in multimedia lessons, others have demonstrated that features such as visual cues and instructor videos can enhance learning. However, variability in selective attention skills may influence students’ ability to benefit from these additional features. This study investigated links between college students’ selective attention skills and their learning from video lessons that varied in the use of visual cues and the instructor video. Learning outcomes depended on both the visual features available and students’ effort and selective attention skills. Among students who reported increased effort during the lessons, those with more efficient selective attention benefited most when a single additional feature (i.e., either visual cues or the instructor video) was used. All students, regardless of attention skills, benefited when both visual cues and the instructor were combined. These findings suggest that learning during multimedia lessons may depend on the visual features of the lessons and the student’s effort and attention skills.

Instructors' presence in instructional videos: A systematic review

The discussion about how to present instructors in instructional videos has become a hot topic in recent years. This systematic review explores how the instructors' presence affects affective, cognitive, and social aspects of learning in different conditions and with different video types. The review analyses 41 empirical studies indexed in Web of Science, ERIC, Scopus, and Education Source research databases from 2014 to 2022. The results indicated that (i) many instructor-present videos were in picture-in-picture format and included direct gaze as a social cue, (ii) learners had positive feelings for instructor-present videos, (iii) the on-screen instructor could not be beneficial for gathering positive learning outcomes, but social and attentional cues provided by the on-screen instructor could foster learning, and (iv) findings regarding the social aspect of learning were inconclusive. This study also emphasizes the need for further studies to clearly explore the role of the instructor in different learning conditions.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10639-022-11532-4.

Using Coordinated Visual and Verbal Cues in Complex Multimedia Materials to Improve Tactical Learning in Soccer

This study aimed to explore whether the use of coordinated visual and verbal cues in narrated diagrams would support novices in learning soccer scenes. Eighty female university students (Mage = 20 years, SD = 1.2) in physical education (PE) were randomly exposed to four multimedia material versions: (a) simple without cues, (b) simple with cues, (c) complex without cues, and (d) complex with cues. In the non-cued versions, students learned the evolution of soccer scenes via arrow-based diagrams accompanied by oral explanations. In the cued versions, game actions in narrations were spoken with a louder accent (verbal cueing), while at the same time, the corresponding arrows turned red in diagrams (visual cueing). After studying one of the four versions, participants were asked to complete immediate and delayed recall-reconstruction tests, and to indicate their attitudes towards instructional materials. The results demonstrate the instructional benefits of using coordinated dual-modality cues in the complex multimedia material, in terms of immediate (p = 0.03, d = 0.53) and delayed (p = 0.02, d = 0.85) recall performances. The findings encourage soccer teachers to verbalize game actions with a louder accent, while simultaneously coloring the corresponding arrows in the diagram when explaining complex game situations for novices.

Impacts of Cues on Learning and Attention in Immersive 360-Degree Video: An Eye-Tracking Study

Immersive 360-degree video has become a new learning resource because of its immersive sensory experience. This study examined the effects of textual and visual cues on learning and attention in immersive 360-degree video by using eye-tracking equipment integrated in a virtual reality head-mounted display. Participants (n = 110) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) no cues, (2) textual cues in the initial field of view (FOV), (3) textual cues outside the initial FOV, and (4) textual cues outside the initial FOV + visual cues. The results showed that the cues (annotations or annotations + arrows) helped learners achieve better learning outcomes and spend more time focusing on the areas with cues. In addition, the study found a serious imbalance in the distribution of learners' attention in each region of the video. The attention directed to textual cues in the initial FOV is much higher than the attention directed to textual cues outside the initial FOV. Adding visual cues can effectively direct attention to textual cues outside the initial FOV and alleviate the imbalance of attention distribution. Consequently, adding cues to immersive 360-degree video can be an appropriate approach to promote learning and guide attention in immersive 360-degree video learning environments. This study provided new insights into the design and development of immersive 360-degree video instructional resources.

Effects of Visuospatial Cues on Instructional Static and Dynamic Visualizations on Learners’ Mental Model Constructions

This empirical study investigated whether progressive visuospatial cues presented in a self-regulatory mode could help learners understand the operation of a mechanical system. The learners’ prior knowledge and cueing condition were the independent variables in terms of investigating their effectiveness on retention and transfer test results. A total of 126 English as a foreign language (EFL) learners voluntarily participated in the study. First, their prior knowledge was evaluated. Then, they were assigned to one of the following experimental conditions:—animation-only, entity-cued animation, and arrow-entity-cued animation. Immediately after the experimental treatment, retention and transfer tests as well as a cognitive load questionnaire were administered to assess the learners’ test performance and cognitive load, respectively. The experimental results suggested that progressive snowballing cues were favorable in assisting learners' retention and transfer test results.

Effect of Adaptive Guidance and Visualization Literacy on Gaze Attentive Behaviors and Sequential Patterns on Magazine-Style Narrative Visualizations

We study the effectiveness of adaptive interventions at helping users process textual documents with embedded visualizations, a form of multimodal documents known as Magazine-Style Narrative Visualizations (MSNVs). The interventions are meant to dynamically highlight in the visualization the datapoints that are described in the textual sentence currently being read by the user, as captured by eye-tracking. These interventions were previously evaluated in two user studies that involved 98 participants reading excerpts of real-world MSNVs during a 1-hour session. Participants’ outcomes included their subjective feedback about the guidance, and well as their reading time and score on a set of comprehension questions. Results showed that the interventions can increase comprehension of the MSNV excerpts for users with lower levels of a cognitive skill known as visualization literacy. In this article, we aim to further investigate this result by leveraging eye-tracking to analyze in depth how the participants processed the interventions depending on their levels of visualization literacy. We first analyzed summative gaze metrics that capture how users process and integrate the key components of the narrative visualizations. Second, we mined the salient patterns in the users’ scanpaths to contextualize how users sequentially process these components. Results indicate that the interventions succeed in guiding attention to salient components of the narrative visualizations, especially by generating more transitions between key components of the visualization (i.e., datapoints, labels, and legend), as well as between the two modalities (text and visualization). We also show that the interventions help users with lower levels of visualization literacy to better map datapoints to the legend, which likely contributed to their improved comprehension of the documents. These findings shed light on how adaptive interventions help users with different levels of visualization literacy, informing the design of personalized narrative visualizations.

The Effect of Cue Labeling in Multimedia Learning: Evidence From Eye Tracking

Cue labels are useful during multimedia learning. According to spatial contiguity principle, people learn more when related words and pictures are displayed spatially near one another. Well-arranged labels of multimedia material can greatly facilitate learning. This study used eye tracking to examine the joint influence of label size (large vs. small) and color (included vs. not) on multimedia learning. The results revealed that larger labels led to better retention test performance and a higher AOI glance count, but no cueing effect was found for color. Cues have a certain attention-leading function that promotes the learner remembering the content. These findings suggest that salient labels that provide explanatory information can guide learners’ attention and facilitate learning, though a combination of label size and color salience did not demonstrate a superior cueing effect.

The Influence of Signaling on the Disfluency Effect in Multimedia Learning

Do students learn better with texts that are slightly harder-to-read (i.e., disfluent)? Previous research has yielded conflicting findings. The present study identified the boundary condition that determines when disfluent texts benefit learning. We used eye-tracking to examine the joint influence of text legibility (fluent vs. disfluent) and signaling (signaling vs. non-signaling) on multimedia learning. The results revealed that both disfluent text and signaling led to better transfer test performance, and there was also an interaction between them. Specifically, the disfluent text led to better learning outcomes with or without signaling; however, in the fluent text condition, only signaling facilitated learning. Eye movement analyses indicated that signaling guided learners to pay more attention to important content in the learning materials. The current results suggest that signaling can enhance individuals’ perceived fluency or familiarity to the material and guide the attention during multimedia learning, and the positive impact of disfluency on multimedia learning seems to be more stable and ubiquitous. We discuss these under the framework of disfluency effect and attention-guiding effect.

Is a Preference for Realism Really Naive After All? A Cognitive Model of Learning with Realistic Visualizations

The use of realistic visualizations has gained considerable interest due to the proliferation of virtual reality equipment. This review is concerned with the theoretical basis, technical implementation, cognitive effects, and educational implications of using realistic visualizations. Realism can be useful for learners, but in several studies, more abstract illustrations have resulted in higher performance. Furthermore, a preference for realistic visualization has been declared as being based on misconceptions regarding the cognitive system. However, we argue that this perspective is unable to fully explain the conflicting results found in the literature. To fill this theoretical gap, we devised a model to describe and compare the various levels of realism found in visualizations. We define realism as a combination of three dimensions: geometry, shading, and rendering. By varying these dimensions, it is possible to create a variety of realistic graphics. Thus, when comparing different visualizations, the realism of each of these three dimensions needs to be considered individually. Based on this technical definition, we introduce a cognitive model of learning with realistic visualizations that includes three different stages: perception, schema construction, and testing. At these three stages, variables such as the perceptual load generated by the visualization, learner characteristics influencing how well details are processed, and test types that demand concrete or flexible representations can affect whether realism fosters or hinders learning. Using the cognitive model presented in this paper, more accurate predictions and recommendations concerning the use of realism can be formulated.

Einfluss visueller Hilfen und räumlicher Fähigkeiten auf die graphische Interpretation von Vektorfeldern: Eine Eye-Tracking-Untersuchung

Ein solides Verständnis physikalischer Konzepte erfordert den Umgang mit multiplen Repräsentationen wie Formeln und Diagrammen zur Bildung kohärenter mentaler Modelle. Bei komplexen Sachverhalten haben Studierende häufig Schwierigkeiten mit solchen repräsentationalen Verknüpfungen und benötigen deshalb instruktionale Unterstützung. In diesem Beitrag wird der Einfluss von zwei Instruktionen (mit und ohne visuelle Hilfen; VH vs. OH) zur graphischen Interpretation eines Vektorfelddiagramms hinsichtlich Divergenz auf die Leistungsfähigkeit von $$N=141$$ N = 141 Studierenden untersucht. Beim Lesen der Instruktion und der anschließenden Aufgabenbearbeitung wurden die Augenbewegungen mit einem Eye-Tracker aufgenommen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Studierende in der VH-Gruppe ($$N=64$$ N = 64 ) eine bessere Testleistung erzielten als Studierende der OH-Gruppe ($$N=77$$ N = 77 ). Der Unterschied ist am stärksten ausgeprägt für die Studierendengruppen mit hohen und mittelstarken räumlichen Fähigkeiten, die im Vorfeld der Untersuchung mittels eines standardisierten Raumspannentests ermittelt wurden. Die Eye-Tracking-Analysen zum Lesen der Instruktionen zeigen, dass den Studierenden mit visuellen Hilfen die Selektion, Organisation und Integration lernrelevanter Informationen im Sinne der kognitionspsychologischen Theorie multimedialen Lernens besser gelingen als Studierenden der OH-Gruppe. Die Analyse der Eye-Tracking-Daten beim anschließenden Problemlösen ergibt, dass Studierende mit VH-Instruktion ihre Augen systematischer über die Vektorfelddiagramme bewegen, was eine korrekte Anwendung der vermittelten Strategie indiziert. Neben dem modellprüfenden Charakter und der Bedeutung visueller Hilfen zeigt die Studie das diagnostische Potential von Eye-Tracking bei Aufgaben mit hohen Ansprüchen an die kognitiv-visuellen Fähigkeiten.

Gaze-Driven Adaptive Interventions for Magazine-Style Narrative Visualizations

In this article, we investigate the value of gaze-driven adaptive interventions to support the processing of textual documents with embedded visualizations, i.e., Magazine Style Narrative Visualizations (MSNVs). These interventions are provided dynamically by highlighting relevant data points in the visualization when the user reads related sentences in the MSNV text, as detected by an eye-tracker. We conducted a user study during which participants read a set of MSNVs with our interventions, and compared their performance and experience with participants who received no interventions. Our work extends previous findings by showing that dynamic, gaze-driven interventions can be delivered based on reading behaviors in MSNVs, a widespread form of documents that have never been considered for gaze-driven adaptation so far. Next, we found that the interventions significantly improved the performance of users with low levels of visualization literacy, i.e., those users who need help the most due to their lower ability to process and understand data visualizations. However, high literacy users were not impacted by the interventions, providing initial evidence that gaze-driven interventions can be further improved by personalizing them to the levels of visualization literacy of their users.

Learning in Virtual Reality: Bridging the Motivation Gap by Adding Annotations

One challenge while learning scientific concepts is to select relevant information and to integrate different representations of the learning content into one coherent mental model. Virtual reality learning environments (VRLEs) offer new possibilities to support learners and foster learning processes. Whether learning in VR is successful, however, depends to a large extent on the design of the VRLE and the learners themselves. Hence, adding supportive elements in VRLEs, such as annotations, might facilitate the learning process by guiding attention and supporting the selection of relevant information. Additionally, the mapping of pictorial and verbal information is eased by these annotations. The beneficial effect of annotations is highly dependent on learners' intrinsic motivation as intrinsic motivation while learning also affects the information selection and visual search patterns. In our experimental study (N = 61), we compared two conditions: learning in a VRLE with or without annotations. We measured the learning outcome on three different levels (knowledge, comprehension, and application). Additionally, we investigated intrinsic motivation as a moderator for the effect of annotations on learning outcome. We found no significant main effect of annotations on learning outcome. The moderating effect of intrinsic motivation for annotations on the overall learning outcome was significant. Our results imply that learners are either intrinsically motivated or need additional support by annotations as these support the selection of relevant information in the VRLE and therefore enable them to learn successfully. Which type or quantity of annotations supports learning processes best needs to be explored in future research.

Five Strategies for Optimizing Instructional Materials: Instructor- and Learner-Managed Cognitive Load

Researchers of cognitive load theory and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning have identified several strategies to optimize instructional materials. In this review article we focus on five of these strategies or solutions to problematic instructional designs in multimedia learning: (a) the multimedia principle (use visualizations and drawings to complement texts); (b) the split-attention effect or spatial contiguity principle (show texts contiguously or integrated with visualizations); (c) the redundancy effect, alike the coherence principle (remove nonessential learning information); (d) the signaling principle (cue or signal essential learning information); and (e) the transient information effect or segmenting principle (segment or control the pace of animations and videos). Usually, both cognitive theories have investigated solutions that instructors, teachers, and designers should pursue to optimize students’ learning. Here, in a novel approach, we show that these strategies can also be used by learners who want to self-manage their cognitive load and learning process. We provide several examples of both instructor- and learner-managed solutions aligned with these strategies. When assessing which agent, either the instructor or the learner, was most effective, we observed mixed results in the literature. However, the expertise reversal effect may help predict the direction of these effects: novice students may learn better under instructor-managed conditions, whereas more expert students may learn more under learner-managed conditions.

Cross-Representational Signaling and Cohesion Support Inferential Comprehension of Text-Picture Documents

Learning from a text–picture multimedia document is particularly effective if learners can link information within the text and across the verbal and the pictorial representations. The ability to create a mental model successfully and include those implicit links is related to the ability to generate inferences. Text processing research has found that text cohesion facilitates the generation of inferences, and thus text comprehension for learners with poor prior knowledge or reading abilities, but is detrimental for learners with good prior knowledge or reading abilities. Moreover, multimedia research has found a positive effect from adding visual representations to text information, particularly when implementing signaling, which consists of verbal or visual cues designed to guide attention to the pictorial representation of relevant information. We expected that, as with text-only documents, struggling readers would benefit from high text cohesion (Hypothesis 1) and that signaling would foster inference generation as well (Hypothesis 2). Further, we hypothesized that better learning outcomes would be observed when text cohesion was low and signaling was present (Hypothesis 3). Our first experimental study investigated the effect of those two factors (cohesion and signaling) on three levels of comprehension (text based, local inferences, global inferences). Participants were adolescents in prevocational schools (n = 95), where some of the students are struggling readers. The results showed a trend in favor of high cohesion, but with no significant effect, a significant positive effect of cross-representational signaling (CRS) on comprehension from local inferences, and no interaction effect. A second experiment focused on signaling only and attention toward the picture, with collection of eye-tracking data in addition to measures of offline comprehension. As this study was conducted with university students (n = 47), who are expected to have higher reading abilities and thus are less likely to benefit from high cohesion, the material was presented in its low cohesive version. The results showed no effect of conditions on comprehension performances but confirmed differences in processing behaviors. Participants allocated more attention to the pictorial representation in the CRS condition than in the no signaling condition.

Learning From Multiple Representations: Prior Knowledge Moderates the Beneficial Effects of Signals and Abstract Graphics

Multimedia learning research addresses the question of how to design instructional material effectively. Signaling and adding graphics are typical instructional means that might support constructing a mental model, particularly when learning abstract content from multiple representations. Although signals can help to select relevant aspects of the learning content, additional graphics could help to visualize mentally the subject matter. Learners' prior knowledge is an important factor for the effectiveness of both types of support: signals and added graphics. Therefore, we conducted an experimental study situated in a university course of computer science with N = 124 participants. In our 2 × 2 factorial design, we investigated the effects of signals and illustrating graphics on learning outcomes and their potential interplay. Based on our regression analysis, we revealed prior knowledge as a significant moderator. Although learners with low levels of prior knowledge can profit from all types of help but still gain rather weak learning outcomes, learners with medium levels of prior knowledge profit from the synergy of both helps. With higher levels of prior knowledge, signals were particularly hampering. To improve the understanding of these supportive or hampering effects, a more fine-grained analysis of these processes and motivational effects is necessary.

How gaze time on screen impacts the efficacy of visual instructions

This article explores whether GTS (gaze time on screen) can be useful as an engagement measure in the screen mediated learning context. Research that exemplifies ways of measuring engagement in the on-line education context usually does not address engagement metrics and engagement evaluation methods that are unique to the diverse contemporary instructional media landscape. Nevertheless, unambiguous construct definitions of engagement and standardized engagement evaluation methods are needed to leverage instructional media's efficacy. By analyzing the results from a mixed methods eye-tracking study of fifty-seven participants evaluating their visual and assembly performance levels in relation to three visual, procedural instructions that are versions of the same procedural instruction, we found that the mean GTS-values in each group were rather similar. However, the original GTS-values outputted from the ET-computer were not entirely correct and needed to be manually checked and cross validated. Thus, GTS appears not to be a reliable, universally applicable automatic engagement measure in screen-based instructional efforts. Still, we could establish that the overall performance of learners was somewhat negatively impacted by lower than mean GTS-scores, when checking the performance levels of the entire group (N = 57). When checking the stimuli groups individually (N = 17, 20, 20), the structural diagram group's assembly time durations were positively influenced by higher than mean GTS-scores.

The applicability of eye-controlled highlighting to the field of visual searching

Objective

With the increasing amount of information presented on current human-computer interfaces, eye-controlled highlighting has been proposed, as a new display technique, to optimise users' task performances. However, it is unknown to what extent the eye-controlled highlighting display facilitates visual search performance. The current study examined the facilitative effect of eye-controlled highlighting display technique on visual search with two major attributes of visual stimuli: stimulus type and the visual similarity between targets and distractors.

Method

In Experiment 1, we used digits and Chinese words as materials to explore the generalisation of the facilitative effect of the eye-controlled highlighting. In Experiment 2, we used Chinese words to examine the effect of target-distractor similarity on the facilitation of eye-controlled highlighting display.

Results

The eye-controlling highlighting display improved visual search performance when words were used as searching target and when the target-distractor similarity was high. No facilitative effect was found when digits were used as searching target or target-distractor similarity was low.

Conclusions

The effectiveness of the eye-controlled highlighting on a visual task was influenced by both stimulus type and target-distractor similarity. These findings provided guidelines for modern interface design with eye-based displays implemented.

Perceptual support promotes strategy generation: Evidence from equation solving

Over time, children shift from using less optimal strategies for solving mathematics problems to using better ones. But why do children generate new strategies? We argue that they do so when they begin to encode problems more accurately; therefore, we hypothesized that perceptual support for correct encoding would foster strategy generation. Fourth-grade students solved mathematical equivalence problems (e.g., 3 + 4 + 5 = 3 + __) in a pre-test. They were then randomly assigned to one of three perceptual support conditions or to a Control condition. Participants in all conditions completed three mathematical equivalence problems with feedback about correctness. Participants in the experimental conditions received perceptual support (i.e., highlighting in red ink) for accurately encoding the equal sign, the right side of the equation, or the numbers that could be added to obtain the correct solution. Following this intervention, participants completed a problem-solving post-test. Among participants who solved the problems incorrectly at pre-test, those who received perceptual support for correctly encoding the equal sign were more likely to generate new, correct strategies for solving the problems than were those who received feedback only. Thus, perceptual support for accurate encoding of a key problem feature promoted generation of new, correct strategies. Statement of Contribution What is already known on this subject? With age and experience, children shift to using more effective strategies for solving math problems. Problem encoding also improves with age and experience. What the present study adds? Support for encoding the equal sign led children to generate correct strategies for solving equations. Improvements in problem encoding are one source of new strategies.

Top-down and bottom-up guidance in comprehension of schematic football diagrams

Comprehension of a narrated diagram entail complex cognitive processing as learner is challenged to extract the orally evoked information. The present experiment examined the effects of 2 different forms of attention guidance - bottom-up and top-down - on comprehension performance, cognitive load investment, and motivation to learn, using a 2 × 2 mixed design with factors "Expertise" (Expert vs. Novice) and "Condition" (no-signal, circle, segment). The results revealed an expertise reversal effect indicating that the incorporation of visual signals in diagram is effective for novice learners but partially reverses and becomes ineffective for more experienced learners (even though they invested less mental effort and reported higher level of motivation in the segmented condition). The findings suggested that the effectiveness of instructional guidance depends heavily on levels of prior knowledge.

Hand Gesture and Mathematics Learning: Lessons From an Avatar

A beneficial effect of gesture on learning has been demonstrated in multiple domains, including mathematics, science, and foreign language vocabulary. However, because gesture is known to co-vary with other non-verbal behaviors, including eye gaze and prosody along with face, lip, and body movements, it is possible the beneficial effect of gesture is instead attributable to these other behaviors. We used a computer-generated animated pedagogical agent to control both verbal and non-verbal behavior. Children viewed lessons on mathematical equivalence in which an avatar either gestured or did not gesture, while eye gaze, head position, and lip movements remained identical across gesture conditions. Children who observed the gesturing avatar learned more, and they solved problems more quickly. Moreover, those children who learned were more likely to transfer and generalize their knowledge. These findings provide converging evidence that gesture facilitates math learning, and they reveal the potential for using technology to study non-verbal behavior in controlled experiments.

Visualizing the qualitative: making sense of written comments from an evaluative satisfaction survey

PURPOSE

Satisfaction surveys are common in the field of health education, as a means of assisting organizations to improve the appropriateness of training materials and the effectiveness of facilitation-presentation. Data can be qualitative of which analysis often become specialized. This technical article aims to reveal whether qualitative survey results can be visualized by presenting them as a Word Cloud.

METHODS

Qualitative materials in the form of written comments on an agency-specific satisfaction survey were coded and quantified. The resulting quantitative data were used to convert comments into "input terms" to generate Word Clouds to increase comprehension and accessibility through visualization of the written responses.

RESULTS

A three-tier display incorporated a Word Cloud at the top, followed by the corresponding frequency table, and a textual summary of the qualitative data represented by the Word Cloud imagery. This mixed format adheres to recognition that people vary in what format is most effective for assimilating new information.

CONCLUSION

The combination of visual representation through Word Clouds complemented by quantified qualitative materials is one means of increasing comprehensibility for a range of stakeholders, who might not be familiar with numerical tables or statistical analyses.

A motivational determinant of facial emotion recognition: regulatory focus affects recognition of emotions in faces

Two studies examined an unexplored motivational determinant of facial emotion recognition: observer regulatory focus. It was predicted that a promotion focus would enhance facial emotion recognition relative to a prevention focus because the attentional strategies associated with promotion focus enhance performance on well-learned or innate tasks - such as facial emotion recognition. In Study 1, a promotion or a prevention focus was experimentally induced and better facial emotion recognition was observed in a promotion focus compared to a prevention focus. In Study 2, individual differences in chronic regulatory focus were assessed and attention allocation was measured using eye tracking during the facial emotion recognition task. Results indicated that the positive relation between a promotion focus and facial emotion recognition is mediated by shorter fixation duration on the face which reflects a pattern of attention allocation matched to the eager strategy in a promotion focus (i.e., striving to make hits). A prevention focus did not have an impact neither on perceptual processing nor on facial emotion recognition. Taken together, these findings demonstrate important mechanisms and consequences of observer motivational orientation for facial emotion recognition.

Enhancing insight in scientific problem solving by highlighting the functional features of prototypes: an fMRI study

Insight can be the first step toward creating a groundbreaking product. As evident in anecdotes and major inventions in history, heuristic events (heuristic prototypes) prompted inventors to acquire insight when solving problems. Bionic imitation in scientific innovation is an example of this kind of problem solving. In particular, heuristic prototypes (e.g., the lotus effect; the very high water repellence exhibited by lotus leaves) help solve insight problems (e.g., non-stick surfaces). We speculated that the biological functional feature of prototypes is a critical factor in inducing insightful scientific problem solving. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we selected scientific innovation problems and utilized "learning prototypes-solving problems" two-phase paradigm to test the supposition. We also explored its neural mechanisms. Functional MRI data showed that the activation of the middle temporal gyrus (MTG, BA 37) and the middle occipital gyrus (MOG, BA 19) were associated with the highlighted functional feature condition. fMRI data also indicated that the MTG (BA 37) could be responsible for the semantic processing of functional features and for the formation of novel associations based on related functions. In addition, the MOG (BA 19) could be involved in the visual imagery of formation and application of function association between the heuristic prototype and problem. Our findings suggest that both semantic processing and visual imagery could be crucial components underlying scientific problem solving.