The understanding, retention and recollection of learning materials depends on complex interactions between the cognitive and motivational characteristics of the recipient, in particular his/her ...knowledge, learning strategies and standpoints on the one hand, and, on the other, the way information is presented in the learning material, e.g. type of content, organisation and sequence. Integrative processing depends on formal characteristics of the text or picture, which more or less speed up the processes of connecting information from both sources. This involves the question of the structural complementarity of the learning material. Some organisational parts of the text, for example headings, abstracts and picture captions, may direct the reader’s attention to the pictures. We talk about structural complementarity when, for example, a picture or a sentence is used to direct the reader’s attention to a scheme that allows him/her to understand the content of the other medium. One of the main conditions of integrative processing is therefore an explicit direction from one medium to the other, usually from the text as the principal medium to the illustration.
As numerous empirical studies consistently prove, the addition of a suitable picture to a text greatly speeds up learning and improves retention of material (Mayer 2005; Salomon 1994). As Weidenmann ...(1989) shows on the basis of a review of 48 experimental studies, illustrated texts have an advantage from the point of view of learning and retention. Test subjects who were presented with an illustrated text achieved scores that were on average 36 % higher than test subjects who had merely read or listened to a text. This effect appears with a wide variety of texts, pictures and tasks and with different types of learners. The advantages of illustrations for the acquisition of knowledge are based either on the simplification of the complex or on the presentation of the abstract in a more concrete manner; the two principles are not however equally suitable for the tackling of various tasks such as identification, classification, remembering sequences and patterns, problem solving, construction of mental models, structuring the content of a text, etc. This paper deals with the functions of pictures and the use of various types of pictorial presentation in different tasks.
Long-term memory is the depository for our relatively stable knowledge and skills, including knowledge of language, spatial models of the world, knowledge of the properties of objects and people, ...events in our own lives, sensorimotor skills, etc. There exist numerous formalisations for representing knowledge, but associative (or semantic) networks and production rule systems are the most commonly used. In associative (or semantic) networks, the basic elements of memory are concepts (knots, symbols), and relations between concepts (propositions, symbolic structure). A concept may be perception-based, action-based, a basic logical or semantic relation or a higher-level concept built on relations between such elements. Concepts may be general terms or individual constants. The meaning of a concept is determined in part by the configuration of its relations to other concepts, and in part the referential conditions that are essential for the correct use and application of a term. Production is a rule in the form «if-then», which states what kind of operation must be executed when certain conditions apply. The conditions may be any pattern of activity represented in the long-term memory as a complex proposition; actions may be external or internal moves such as searching for a memory location, seeking a referent in the memory, or activating other long-term memory concepts.
In a continuing discussion (see abstract of Part 1 in this section of SA 38:4), the motivational factors of consumption & the content of the mass media are examined. In particular, it is questioned ...why some people & not others are entertained &/or informed by the media. An extensive analysis of this phenomenon provided by William J. McGuire (eg, with Blumler, J. G., "Psychological Motives and Communication Gratification" in Katz, E. Ed, The Use of Mass Communications, Current Perspectives on Gratification Research, London: SAGE Publications, 1974) is outlined in detail. 67 References. Modified HA
The media have garnered a major role in urban societies & have become an important factor in the socialization & culturalization of children as well as adults, competing with the traditional ...influences of parents, school, & the church. Following an examination of the media's potential ability to increase knowledge, educate the populace, & positively influence values, a look is taken at its possible deleterious effects, including escapism, estrangement, & trivialization of public tastes. Questions are raised as to which mental processes are most influenced by the media & what characteristics of those processes allow media influence to take hold. 1 Table. Modified HA
