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14 - Principles for Reducing Extraneous Processing in Multimedia Learning

Coherence, Signaling, Redundancy, Spatial Contiguity, and Temporal Contiguity Principles

from Part IV - Principles for Reducing Extraneous Processing in Multimedia Learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

By
Logan Fiorella  and
Richard E. Mayer
Edited by
Richard E. Mayer  and
Logan Fiorella
Richard E. Mayer
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Logan Fiorella
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
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Summary

Extraneous processing occurs when suboptimal instructional design causes learners to engage in cognitive processing irrelevant to the instructional goal. This chapter explores five principles for reducing extraneous processing in multimedia learning: coherence, signaling, redundancy, spatial contiguity, and temporal contiguity. The coherence principle is that people learn better when extraneous information is excluded from multimedia lessons. The signaling principle is that people learn better when cues are added to highlight the organization of the essential information. The redundancy principle is that people learn better when multimedia lessons include graphics and spoken text rather than graphics, spoken text, and printed text. The spatial contiguity principle is that people learn better when words and corresponding graphics are physically integrated rather than separated. The temporal contiguity principle is that people learn better when words and corresponding graphics are presented simultaneously rather than sequentially.

Keywords

extraneous processingcoherence principlesignaling principleredundancy principlespatial contiguity principletemporal contiguity principle
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning , pp. 185 - 198
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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