Cognitive Theory of
Multimedia Learning
Information Processing
Eddie Mathews
EDTI 6304 Cognition & Learning
UTB Spring 2012
Background of Cognitive Studies
• Cognitivism replaced behaviorism in the late
1960’s as the dominant paradigm
• Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental
activities –the “black box” of the human mind
• Researchers believed mental processes
such as thinking, memory, knowing, and
problem-solving need to be explored
• In recent years, much has been learned
about cognition and learning
Common Assumptions
• Two separate channels for processing
information: auditory and visual (some call
this “Dual-Coding Theory”)
• Each channel has a limited capacity for
processing information (“Cognitive Load”)
• Learning is the active process of filtering,
selecting, organizing, and integrating
information based upon prior knowledge
Cognitive Psychology Research
Richard E. Mayer
Richard E. Mayer has
developed a theory which
involves cognition, instruction,
and technology.
Mayer’s research led to a
theory called “Cognitive Theory
of Multimedia Learning” that
contribute heavily computerbased instruction
What is C.T.M.L.?
Basically, in a nutshell…
Mayer’s “Cognitive Theory of Multimedia
Learning argues that…
“People learn more deeply from words and
pictures than from words alone.”
Channel 1
Channel 2
Better Understanding
What is Multimedia Learning?
Term
Multimedia
Definition
Presenting words and pictures
Multimedia
learning
Building mental representations
from words and pictures
Multimedia
instruction
Presenting words and pictures that
are intended to promote learning
Cognitive Components
Term
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
Definition
memory store holding images on the
eyes and sounds on the ears for a
brief period
limited-capacity memory store for
storing sounds/images in active
consciousness
CTML: Cognitive Processes
words
ears
pictures
eyes
Long-Term
Memory
Working Memory
sounds
images
media organization
Sensory
Memory
media selection
Multimedia
Presentation
verbal
model
integrating
prior
knowledge
pictorial
model
Processing Pictures
eyes
images
media organization
pictures
Working Memory
Sensory
Memory
media selection
Multimedia
Presentation
Long-Term
Memory
integrating
prior
knowledge
pictorial
model
Processing Spoken Words
words
ears
Working Memory
sounds
media organization
Sensory
Memory
media selection
Multimedia
Presentation
verbal
model
Long-Term
Memory
integrating
prior
knowledge
Processing Printed Words
words
eyes
Working Memory
sounds
images
media organization
Sensory
Memory
media selection
Multimedia
Presentation
verbal
model
Long-Term
Memory
integrating
prior
knowledge
Now for some application…
Multimedia Principles
(based on Mayer’s research)
1. Multimedia Principle
Students learn better from words and
pictures than from words alone.
Example: Pump Lesson
When the handle is pulled up, the piston
moves up, the inlet valve opens, the outlet
valve closes and air enters the lower part
of the cylinder.
When the handle is pushed down, the
piston moves down, the inlet valve closes,
the outlet valve opens, and air moves out
through the hose.
2. Spatial Contiguity Principle
Students learn better when corresponding
words and pictures are presented near
rather than far from each other on the
page or screen.
3. Temporal Contiguity Principle
Students learn better when corresponding
words and pictures are presented
simultaneously rather than successively.
Example: Weather Lesson
1. Cool moist air moves over a warmer surface and becomes heated
2. Warmed moist air near the earth’s surface rises rapidly.
3. As the air in this updraft cools, water vapor condenses into water
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
droplets and forms a cloud.
The cloud’s top extends above the freezing level, so the upper
portion of the cloud is composed of tiny ice crystals.
Eventually, the water droplets and ice crystals become too large to
be suspended by the updrafts.
As raindrops and ice crystals fall through the cloud, they drag
some of the air in the cloud downward, producing downdrafts.
When downdrafts strike the ground, they spread out in all
directions, producing the gust of wind people feel before the start
of rain.
Within the cloud, the rising and falling air currents cause electrical
charges to build.
4. Coherence Principle
Students learn better when extraneous
words, pictures, and sounds are excluded
rather than included.
5. Modality Principle
Students learn better from animation and
narration than from animation and on-screen
text.
6. Redundancy Principle
Better transfer occurs when animation and
narration are not combined with printed
text. When pictures and words are both
presented visually, it can overload visual
working memory capacity.
7. Individual Differences Principle
Design effects are stronger for lowknowledge learners than from highknowledge learners and for high-spatial
learners than for low-spatial learners.
Credits & References
Retrieved from the Internet:
• http://www.learning-theories.com/cognitivism.html
• http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/mayer/index.php
Clark, R.C., & Mayer, R.E. (2008). Applying the multimedia
principle. E-learning and the science of instruction (3rd ed.,
pp. 447-478). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
Mayer, R.E., & Gallini, J.K. (1990). When an illustration is
worth then thousand words? Journal of Educational
Psychology, 88, 64-73
Mayer, R. E., & Moreno, R. (2003). Nine ways to reduce
cognitive load in multimedia learning. Educational
Psychologist,38(1). 43 – 52.