Most of the studies establishing factors affecting digital text and multimedia comprehension have been conducted in controlled conditions. The present study sought to test and extend the modality and seductive details effects, and the role of verbal ability and working memory capacity, to a remote, self‐paced, E‐learning scenario. Two hundred and thirteen first‐year undergraduates read or watched videos about scientific expository content in three formats: digital text (written expository texts, navigated in seven screens), presentation video (audio explanation, with written keywords), and presentation video with dynamic decorative images (audio explanation, written keywords, and dynamic decorative and irrelevant images). In a face‐to‐face session, they completed working memory and verbal ability tests. Comprehension performance was similar for the three conditions. For the multimedia videos with dynamic decorative irrelevant images, comprehension depended on working memory capacity. Verbal ability was relevant for both expository text and videos.

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Two studies sought to replicate and extend the seductive effect of decorative pictures in expository text comprehension to an e-learning environment. In the first study, undergraduate students read and answered questions about two texts, with and without decorative, irrelevant images, in an e-learning course. The presence of decorative images had a small detrimental effect on comprehension. In the second study, participants read more difficult texts (low prior knowledge texts in multiple screens) and completed working memory and inhibitory ability tests. A significant interaction between comprehension and perceptual/attentional inhibitory ability was found: Participants with lower inhibitory capacity were affected by irrelevant pictures. In conclusion, evidence supported the hypothesis of a detrimental effect of irrelevant, decorative images on comprehension in e-learning, particularly for students with low attentional inhibition.

Las estrategias de soporte, como elaborar el material, releer, subrayar, memorizar, o tomar notas, contribuyen a la comprensión de textos expositivos. El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar la contribución de distintas estrategias de soporte, y su relación con la memoria de trabajo, a la comprensión de textos expositivos digitales en un entorno de e-Learning. Para ello, 224 estudiantes universitarios leyeron dos textos expositivos y completaron cuestionarios de comprensión y de estrategias utilizadas durante la lectura, a través de una plataforma de e-Learning, de forma remota. Se relevaron distintas estrategias para resolver las tareas, que fueron categorizadas en tres grupos: sólo leer y memorizar, tomar notas y estrategias digitales. Los estudiantes que solo leían pasivamente y tenían baja capacidad de memoria de trabajo comprendían significativamente menos que los que solo leían y tenían alta capacidad de memoria de trabajo; con estrategias activas no se halló esta diferencia.

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