Fostering understanding of multimedia messages through pre-training: evidence for a two-stage theory of mental model construction.
Students received a narrated animation explaining the workings of a car's braking system (Experiments 1 and 2) or a bicycle tire pump (Experiment 3) and then took retention and transfer tests. Some students received pre-training concerning each of the components in the system before receiving the narrated animation (pre-training group), whereas others received no pre-training (no pre-training group) or--only in Experiment 3--training after the narrated animation (post-training group). The pre-training described or depicted the possible states of each part. Students in the pre-training group performed better than did students in other groups on tests of transfer (in all 3 experiments) and retention (in Experiments 1 and 2). Results are consistent with a 2-stage theory of mental model construction.
Mayer
Richard E
RE
Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106-9660, USA. mayer@psych.ucsb.edu
Mathias
Amanda
A
Wetzell
Karen
K
D000328:Adult; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019212:Multimedia; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D014163:Transfer, Psychology