Week 9 & 10 Activity

Gestalt Theory in Visual Screen Design – A New Look at an Old Subject
(Chang, Dooley, Tuovinen, 2002)

Gestalt Laws:
balance/symmetry
continuation
closure
figure-ground
focal point
isomorphic correspondence
prägnanz
proximity

similarity
simplicity
unity/harmony

The usefulness of the laws were proven when text based user interface was replaced with graphical user interface and evaluated by asking students and others to compare the designs which followed the 11 laws. The evaluation was overwhelmingly positive.
1) The new interface design was empirically proven more effective with better usability than the original version.
2) Evaluations indicated that all the identified Gestalt laws are beneficial for visual screen design and learning effectiveness, however, not unanimously seen as beneficial for improvement.


The Effectiveness of Nonverbal Symbolic Signs and Metaphors in Advertisements: An Experimental Inquiry
(DeRosia, 2008)

Previous research suggests that nonverbal ad elements are automatically processed. This study puts that theory to test proposing that consumers must actually put forth some cognitive efffort when comprehending nonverbal symbolic signs and metaphors, suggesting then that the consequences for ad response are important. This study would argue that subtle nonverbal changes to an ad guided by the theoretical angle of of semiotics and rhetoric can in fact cause changes in brand beliefs.
This was in fact proven in a study they conducted by testing the effects of an advertisement involving a pen and pen line presented in two ways. The researchers found that a minimum level of cognitive effort was in fact needed to comprehend the nonverbal symbolic signs and metaphors. In this example, they refer to the squiggly line drawn by the pen, as opposed to the straight line of the ad counterpart. Observants believed the squiggly line pen brand to be more cheerful. This suggested:

1. People DO use cognitive effort to interpret symbols 
2. Nonverbal symbolic signs and metaphors do inform brand beliefs. 

Behold the power of the nonverbal! :)


Learner Control, Cognitive Load and Instructional Animation
(Hasler, Kersten, Sweller, 2007)


three versions of an audio-visual computer animation and a narration only presentation were used to test the influence of learner controlled pacing in educational animation on instructional efficiency.

•  System-paced with continuous animation
•  Learner-paced with discrete segments
•  Learner-paced with 'stop' and 'play' buttons
•  Narration only

 1) Interesting findings:

•  Learner-paced groups had higher test performance with relatively lower cognitive load
• Animated pictures and simultaneous narration do not cause cognitive load, but rather both sources of information are necessary for more understanding to occur.
• Animation without learner control is as effective as no animation.
• Learner-controlled pacing of an animated presentation is beneficial for higher-level schema construction.

2) Relevance for instructional designers:

Learner control, (in pre-defined segments or with stop and play) should be integrated in educational animation in order to improve instructional efficiency.


Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning
Richard E. Mayer & Roxana Moreno (2010)

1) There are three kinds of cognitive demands in learning

Essential processing:
cognitive processes that are required for making sense of the presented
material

• selecting words
• selecting images
• organizing words
• organizing images
• integrating.

Incidental processing:
cognitive processes that are not required for making sense of the presented material but present in the learning task (ex: background music)

Representational holding:
cognitive processes aimed at holding a mental representation in working memory
over a period of time.


2) Cognitive overload = total intended processing exceeds the learner’s cognitive capacity.
Reducing cognitive load can involve redistributing essential processing, reducing incidental processing, or reducing representational holding.