Seductive Details in Educational Materials: Exploring Attention Distraction Using Eye-Tracking

Current advances in technology allow for a great deal of learning intervention materials to be designed by teachers. An active body of research is being conducted on how information is processed from these materials which are often created using electronic media. The design of these materials often includes interesting but irrelevant details which may detract from learning. These are termed “seductive details” and the impact of these inclusions in learning materials is not yet fully understood. Developing a better understanding of what factors play a role in the damaging effects of seductive details can help in the design of learning materials. The primary cognitive explanations to date for the impact of seductive details include working memory capacity (WMC) and distracted attention. These elements do not fully explain the variation in results from prior studies. A primary goal of this study was to explore if the emotional salience of seductive details could help explain whether and how seductive details detract from learning. This experimental study was conducted with 39 undergraduate university students. The design accounted for WMC and directly measured visual attention using eye-tracking. Eye-tracking devices allow for empirical measures of how much time a learner spends attending to seductive details versus pertinent learning materials. The study provided little evidence to suggest the seductive details used in the materials detracted from learning. The evidence suggests learners visually attend to seductive details when they are present, and they are more likely to attend to emotionally salient seductive details than neutrally valenced details

What determines cell size?

AbstractFirst paragraph (this article has no abstract) For well over 100 years, cell biologists have been wondering what determines the size of cells. In modern times, we know all of the molecules that control the cell cycle and cell division, but we still do not understand how cell size is determined. To check whether modern cell biology has made any inroads on this age-old question, BMC Biology asked several heavyweights in the field to tell us how they think cell size is controlled, drawing on a range of different cell types. The essays in this collection address two related questions - why does cell size matter, and how do cells control it

What determines cell size?

AbstractFirst paragraph (this article has no abstract) For well over 100 years, cell biologists have been wondering what determines the size of cells. In modern times, we know all of the molecules that control the cell cycle and cell division, but we still do not understand how cell size is determined. To check whether modern cell biology has made any inroads on this age-old question, BMC Biology asked several heavyweights in the field to tell us how they think cell size is controlled, drawing on a range of different cell types. The essays in this collection address two related questions - why does cell size matter, and how do cells control it

Science during lockdown - from virtual seminars to sustainable online communities

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional modes of scientific communication. In-person conferences and seminars have been cancelled and most scientists around the world have been confined to their homes. Although challenging, this situation has presented an opportunity to adopt new ways to communicate science and build scientific relationships within a digital environment, thereby reducing the environmental impact and increasing the inclusivity of scientific events. As a group of researchers who have recently created online seminar series for our respective research communities, we have come together to share our experiences and insights. Only a few weeks into this process, and often learning 'on the job', we have collectively encountered different problems and solutions. Here, we share our advice on formats and tools, security concerns, spreading the word to your community and creating a diverse, inclusive and collegial space online. We hope our experience will help others launch their own online initiatives, helping to shape the future of scientific communication as we move past the current crisis.I.R. acknowledges the support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to the EMBL partnership, the Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa and the CERCA Programme / Generalitat de Catalunya. I.R. acknowledges financial support from the following sources: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (SEV-2012-0208, BFU2013-44188-P, CSD2009-00016 and IJCI-2017-34751 to I.R.). M.P.S. is supported by a Simons Foundation Fellowship of the Life Sciences Research Foundation and an EMBO Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellowship. S.C. is supported by the Francis Crick Institute which receives its core funding from Cancer Research UK (FC001121), the UK Medical Research Council (FC001121), and the Wellcome Trust (FC001121). P.M.D and B.C. are supported by the Association Institut de Myologie. A.S. is a Wellcome Trust Investigator (200870/Z/16/Z). F.B. is supported by the German Research Foundation grants SFB958 (Project A25), SFB/TRR186 (Project A20). F.C. acknowledges support from Fundació Privada Cellex, Fundació Privada Mir-Puig, and Minesterio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (RYC-2017-22227). G.D. acknowledges the support of the Wellcome Trust (203276/Z/16/Z) and University College London. Deposited in PMC for immediate release