Pictures as Relevant Cues in Multi-Channel Communication

Principles of Educational Multimedia User Interface Design

“…Text was superior to sound when the verbal information was a list of words (Severin, 1967), instructions (Sewell & Moore, 1980), four-line poems (Menne & Menne, 1972), and nonsense syllables (Chan, Travers, & Van Mondfrans, 1965;Van Mondfrans & Travers, 1964). However, one study (Van Mondfrans & Travers, 1964) found no learning differences between auditory and textual words.…”

The Effectiveness of Digital Audio in Computer-Based Training

“…If this were the case, there would be little or no advantage to communication through two channels. In fact, both Broadbent and Travers found what they interpreted as jamming of the system when information in two channels was presented through a single-channel link, resulting in a reduction of communication (Severin, 1967b).…”

Visualization and TV news information gain

“…He found that a spoken word combined with simultaneous presentation of a picture of a different object of the same class (for example, the word "moose" with a picture of a bison) produced less recall than either of two other conditions: the spoken word with a picture of the object (the word "moose" with a picture of a moose, for example) or the spoken word with a picture of an object of an entirely different class (the word "moose" with a picture of a catfish, for example). 8 The semirelevant condition produced less learning than did any of the other combinations of audio with picture, and this would seem similar to much silent newsfilm in which the newscaster is describing an issue while the audience sees film that represents just the location or persons dealt with in the story but not the issue itself. Examples of this semi-relevance would be faces of city commissioners while the newscaster describes matters they decided, the standings of sports leagues discussed while viewers see players practicing for a game, a roundup of automobile accidents while viewers see isolated highway carnage.…”