The Effect of Positive Emotions on Multimedia Learning

Annotated Bibliography
In this article, the impact of graphic design on emotion and the effect of emotion and design on learning was explored. The subjects were placed into groups where either positive or neutral emotion was induced and then they either viewed an instructional media piece about immunization presented in black and white with no extra aesthetic modifications, or they viewed a more graphically appealing colored version with anthropomorphized parts. They were then tested to see whether there was any impact on their affect depending on which version they saw and whether positive emotions promoted knowledge. The results indicated that the group with the more colorful, aesthetic design and anthropomorphized characters had an increased level of positive emotion. The transfer test showed marginally significant results for greater knowledge transfer in positive emotional states but no effect for the difference in graphic design.

My Thoughts
I wonder if perhaps the positive emotions that were induced by the good graphic design had to do with just the anthropomorphizing of some of the items in the instruction. It seems that seeing something cute or entertaining could be the cause of positive emotional response. Then again, there is probably a reason people like good design, in general, I’m sure it makes them feel good. Positive emotions connection to learning still seems tenuous at best, though I don’t doubt that emotions have an impact on learning in general, but since they’re so complex it doesn’t seem like things can really be reduced to saying people who are happy learn more easily, though if it works in practice and isn’t necessarily how it functions, people will still use it as a principle.