Wolfgang Schnotz/Maria Bannert-Construction and interference in learning from multiple representation

Annotated Bibliography
In this article, the authors propose an alternative to Paivio's dual coding theory. They hypothesize the the dual coding theory, which states that people have two channels for information input, is too simplistic and that the type of pictures can have an effect on learning. Their structure mapping hypothesis says that the mere fact that pictures are present along with words does not not mean that learning will be enhanced. Instead, they predict "different effects for different pictures on performance in different tasks" They studied whether The type of pictures that are presented have an impact on the learning task if they are matched or mismatched with the type or structure of the question. The findings showed that the dual coding hypothesis was not completely correct since different pictures showed different effects when combined with various questions or tasks. The author says that the import of this for instructional design is that pictures are not always appropriate tools since different learners have varied needs and can benefit or it can be to their detriment when pictures are included. Also the type of image that is included is very important since again it can aid or hinder learning.

My Thoughts
This research is subjective because the way an image is structured can certainly change learning outcomes, but so can the way a paragraph is structured. I'm not clear on whether or how you would control for the structure of language. I know they used questions in different formats, but it still seems like there is something missing in this experiment. Perhaps what bothers me is that they only meausured whether students got an answer right, not how much time they thought about it. I would be curious to know what the data would look like on the amount of time it took students to answer questions because it may give insight into whether students who got the mismatched images right took more time to think or if they just got the concept as a whole regardless of the images.

It seems bold for cognitive researchers to talk about the path information paths in the brain. That seems like a subject best left to neuroscientists. Though I understand that it is important because it affects the outcomes of cognition.