The modality effect refers to the robust finding that memory performance differs for items presented aurally, as compared with visually. Whereas auditory presentation leads to stronger recency performance in immediate recall, visual presentation often produces better primacy performance (the inverse modality effect). To investigate and model these…

College student subjects were presented one of four versions of a simulated news broadcast. Audio-plus-print elicited the highest recall scores. Print alone generated more involvement than videotape or audio-plus-print.

A comparison was made of short- and long-term visual and auditory memory in relation to visual and auditory interference. The questions investigated were: (1) will interference be greater when it occurs in the same modality (auditory or visual) in which it was learned (i.e., similarity hypothesis), or (2) will interference be greater when it…

Indicates that the auditory modality was superior to the visual/written modality in learning and retention. (RB)

Examines modality differences in preschoolers' ability to recognize or recall temporally related events and extends Ward and Wackman's model by evaluating whether the assumed "visual viewing style" applies to preschoolers' processing of temporal relations. Results demonstrated that temporally related events were remembered more…

A study investigated the learning impact of audio, visual, and audiovisual information channels in televised messages among preschool children. The messages consisted of a half-hour videotape of "Sesame Street" episodes (presented to 48 subjects), and a videotape of an intact "Mister Roger's Neighborhood" program (presented to…

This study examined the relationships among presentational stimuli (oral, visual, oral plus visual), types of content (concrete, abstract), and learner ability (high verbal, low verbal). Third grade students either heard a short story, watched pictures showing the same short story, or heard and watched a combination of the oral and picture…

Groups of extrovert, ambivert, and introvert children, aged 8, saw pictures with a taped commentary about each. On an immediate recall test, extroverts recalled most if given the commentary before the picture, introverts did best when the picture came first, and ambiverts performed similarly in both conditions. (Author/SJL)

A study examined the effects of visual-verbal redundancy and recaps on learning from television news. Two factors were used: redundancy between the visual and audio channels, and the presence or absence of a recap. Manipulation of these factors created four conditions: (1) redundant pictures and words plus recap, (2) redundant pictures and words…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children as young as second-graders could encode categorically within an abstract evaluative dimension. The study uses mode of stimulus presentation (auditory or visual) as an independent variable. The subjects were 40 white middle class children from grades 2, 4, and 6, who were randomly assigned…

Second-grade students' reading proficiency was studied by determining the influence of rhyming or nonrhyming items on their recall of random letter strings, using visual and auditory presentations. Good and poor readers differed in their use of phonetic coding in working memory. (MH)

Describes the fragmentary recall of aural and visual messages and discusses the implications for instructional design. Topics discussed include cognitive processes; the characteristics and selection of various media and the relationship to fragment processing skills; classroom activities based on fragmentary recall; and direction for further…

Describes study of undergraduates that was conducted to investigate the effect of quality and clarity of the photographic image on the recall of photographic content. The stylistic elements of photography are discussed; the subjects' information gathering modality is considered (i.e., whether visual, aural, or both); and results are analyzed. (9…

An analysis of the types of eye movements of subjects viewing motion picture films and telelessons revealed a continuum of movements. Two of the intervals of this continuum (No Observable Movements and Minimovements) were found to be related to intelligence. The factors of age and learning did not correlate with any of the indices. Subjects in the…