Text-signaling devices and their effects on reading and memory processes

Abstract

onSignals are writing devices that emphasize aspects of a text's content or structure without adding to the content of the the text. Findings are reviewed for studies of several different types of signaling devices, including: titles, headings, previews, overviews, summaries, typographical cues, recall sentences, number signals, importance indicators, and summary indicators. Most investigations have examined how the presence of signals in a text affects subsequent memory for the text. Virtually all types of signals produce better memory for information they cue in a text, whereas memory for unsignaled information often is unaffected. Less attention has been directed to signaling effects on other cognitive processes, such as attention, basic reading processes, and comprehension. It is argued that an understanding of how signals influence these processes will contribute to the application of signaling research to reading and writing instruction and to our general understanding of reading.

Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning

“…When it is not feasible to remove all the embellishments in a multimedia lesson, cognitive load can be reduced by providing cues to the learner about how to select and organize the material-a technique called signaling (Lorch, 1989;Meyer, 1975). For example, Mautone and Mayer (2001) constructed a 4-min narrated animation explaining how airplanes achieve lift, which contained many extraneous facts and somewhat confusing graphics.…”

“…We refer to this result as a signaling effect: Students understand a multimedia presentation better when it contains signals concerning how to process the material. Although there is a substantial amount of research literature on signaling of text in printed passages (Lorch, 1989), Mautone and Mayer's study offers the first examination of signaling for narrated animations. Signaling seems to help in the process of selecting and organizing relevant information.…”

Towards a Framework for Attention Cueing in Instructional Animations: Guidelines for Research and Design

“…The first function of cueing is thus to emphasize particular information intended to indicate the relevance of the cued content. This kind of cueing is highly specific and unambiguous with respect to the information that is cued (Lorch 1989). For example, color variations in illustrations or underlining words in a text are means to stress the importance of cued information.…”

“…That is, the organization of content in recall closely resembles the structure of the text , 1996Lorch et al 1993). However, organizational cues are only effective in altering the organization of content in memory if the instructions are complex and do not involve a well-defined structure or contain many topics (Lorch 1989;Lorch and Lorch 1996;Meyer 1975).…”

“…Cueing is intended to draw learners' attention to essential elements of the (visual) representation, for instance by increasing the luminance of specific objects in a visual display (e.g., De Koning et al 2007) or by changing a word's font style to boldface in a text (e.g., Mautone and Mayer 2001). It is important to note that cues do not provide new information or change the content of the instructional materials (Lorch 1989). This paper examines whether cueing approaches that have been successfully used in static representations (i.e., text and visualization) can be effectively transferred to animations in order to improve learning.…”