The modality effect tested in children in a user-paced multimedia environment

Abstract The modality learning effect proposes that learning is enhanced when information is presented in both the visual and the auditory domains (e.g. pictures and spoken information) compared with presenting information solely in the visual channel (e.g. pictures and written text). Most of the evidence for this effect comes from adults in a laboratory setting. Therefore, we tested the modality effect with 80 children in the highest grade of elementary school in a naturalistic setting. In a between-subjects design, the children either saw representational pictures with speech or representational pictures with text. Retention and transfer knowledge was tested at three moments: immediately after the intervention, one day after and after one week. The present study did not find any evidence for a modality effect in children when the lesson was learner-paced. Instead, we found a reversed modality effect directly after the intervention for retention. A reversed modality effect was also fo...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: JCAL
• Authors: Marijt J. Witteman, Eliane Segers
• Keywords: Individual Differences, JCAL 2010, Modality Effect, Reversed Modality Effect