Ploetzner Rolf
Department of Psychology, University of Education Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2024 Sep 19;15:1389604. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1389604. eCollection 2024.
Current theories suggest that visual and spatial processes in working memory are crucial for learning from animation. However, despite over three decades of research on learning from animation, little is known about how visuospatial working memory relates to learning. Instead, animation research often relies on subjective task load to explain and predict learning performance. To better understand how visuospatial working memory and learning from animation are related, a within-subjects study was conducted. Eighty six students learned from two animations of different complexity. The students' performance on visual learning tasks, visual and spatial working memory capacity, and perceived task load were assessed. Hierarchical regression analyses show that visuospatial working memory capacity is more critical for learning from a complex animation than for learning from a less complex animation. Moreover, visuospatial working memory capacity predicts learning from a complex animation significantly better than subjective task load. The effect size is large. The results provide a coherent picture of the relationships between learning task demands, learners' visuospatial working memory, perceived task load and learning performance. They not only allow for a more accurate prediction of learning from animation but can also help to tailor the design and use of animations to the learners' cognitive resources.
当前理论表明，工作记忆中的视觉和空间过程对于从动画中学习至关重要。然而，尽管对从动画中学习的研究已有三十多年，但对于视觉空间工作记忆与学习之间的关系却知之甚少。相反，动画研究通常依赖主观任务负荷来解释和预测学习表现。为了更好地理解视觉空间工作记忆与从动画中学习之间的关系，我们进行了一项被试内研究。八十六名学生观看了两部复杂度不同的动画进行学习。评估了学生在视觉学习任务上的表现、视觉和空间工作记忆容量以及感知到的任务负荷。分层回归分析表明，视觉空间工作记忆容量对于从复杂动画中学习比从不太复杂的动画中学习更为关键。此外，视觉空间工作记忆容量比主观任务负荷能更显著地预测从复杂动画中的学习情况。效应量很大。研究结果清晰呈现了学习任务要求、学习者的视觉空间工作记忆、感知到的任务负荷和学习表现之间的关系。它们不仅有助于更准确地预测从动画中的学习情况，还能帮助根据学习者的认知资源来定制动画的设计和使用方式。
