Picture this:A review of research relating to narrative processing by moving image versus language

Reading fiction for pleasure is robustly correlated with improved cognitive attainment and other benefits. It is also in decline among young people in developed nations, in part because of competition from moving image fiction. We review existing research on the differences between reading or hearing verbal fiction and watching moving image fiction, as well as looking more broadly at research on image or text interactions and visual versus verbal processing. We conclude that verbal narrative generates more diverse responses than moving image narrative. We note that reading and viewing narrative are different tasks, with different cognitive loads. Viewing moving image narrative mostly involves visual processing with some working memory engagement, whereas reading narrative involves verbal processing, visual imagery, and personal memory (Xu et al., 2005). Attempts to compare the two by creating equivalent stimuli and task demands face a number of challenges. We discuss the difficulties of such comparative approaches. We then investigate the possibility of identifying lower level processing mechanisms that might distinguish cognition of the two media and propose internal scene construction and working memory as foci for future research. Although many of the sources we draw on concentrate on English-speaking participants in European or North American settings, we also cover material relating to speakers of Dutch, German, Hebrew, and Japanese in their respective countries, and studies of a remote Turkish mountain community

The role of working memory when "learning how" with multimedia learning material

The aim of the reported experiment was to obtain insight into how learners' visuo-spatial working memory is involved during learning how to perform procedural-motor tasks from a multimedia instruction (i.e. 'learning how'). Eighty-two participants studied first-aid procedures using text only or multimedia. Working memory involvement was gauged by measuring the interference between learning first-aid procedures and performing a spatial dual task. Learning outcomes were measured as task performance and task description. The results showed that performing a spatial dual task interfered to a larger extent with learning from text only than from multimedia. The results tend to support the assumption that pictures in tasks focusing on 'learning how' are beneficial to learning, because they might omit the need to engage in imagery and therewith reduce the cognitive effort that is required to understand the learning material. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd