Cognitive load theory and the effects of transient information on the modality effect

Based on cognitive load theory and the transient information effect, this paper investigated the modality effect while interpreting a contour map. The length and complexity of auditory and visual text instructions were manipulated. Experiment 1 indicated that longer audio text information within a presentation was inferior to the equivalent longer visual text information demonstrating a reversal of the modality effect due to transient information imposing a heavy working memory load. However, the expected modality effect was not obtained from the equivalent shorter auditory text presentation compared to shorter visual text information. It was hypothesised that the shorter text still contained too much auditory information for working memory to readily process. Experiment 2 further decreased the shorter auditory text information which then resulted in a traditional modality effect including a modality by text length interaction in which shorter, audio-visual information was better than visual only information but longer, audio-visual information was worse than visual only information.     

叙述者的“含混”——对卡夫卡小说《判决》的叙事学研究

卡夫卡在《判决》中通过叙述者叙述方式的不断变化,模糊了叙述者的第三人称的客观叙事,使叙述者的视角和态度发生了含混,并借助内聚焦和零聚焦两种叙述方式的叠加重和消解了叙述者的客观性,使文本表现出了悖谬的意义。     

The effect of computer‐based multimedia instruction with Chinese character recognition

The purpose of this study was to examine second language learners’ learning achievement and attitudes toward two different types of dual coding designs (text group: image plus on‐screen text versus narration group: image plus narration) in Chinese character acquisition. A total of 66 college students who did not have prior knowledge of the Chinese language were randomly assigned to either the text group or narration group. The findings showed that there was no interaction between the treatments (text group versus narration group) and test occasions (immediate and delayed post‐tests), and there was no significant difference between two groups in the immediate post‐test and in the delayed post‐test. However, there was a significant difference between the test occasions. Furthermore, the results revealed that there was no significant difference between two groups in both the tutorial design factor and the cognitive load factor. Overall, participants in both groups achieved high scores in the post‐tests and showed positive attitudes toward the dual coding tutorials.     

论《死魂灵》的叙述者

《死魂灵》的叙述者是一个外显的叙述者,他在叙述的同时,不时与受述者进行交流,对叙述作各种干预,这种处理使叙述的灌输意味得到了缓解。同时,叙述者的形象化,也使文本产生了一种独特的艺术魅力。     

反讽：现代小说一种特殊的叙事方式

中国现代小说区别于古代小说一个显著的标志就是叙事方式的改变。其中,反讽叙事,就是一个特殊的例子。在反讽叙事文本中,作者运用设置超叙述层、启用不可信叙述者、以及隐含作者与叙述者演双簧等表现手法,使故事表层叙述与深层内涵构成强烈的反讽,有效地扩张了文本的意蕴,增强了作品的艺术张力。这是一般叙事方式所无法达到的艺术效果。     

Learning by drawing: When is it worth the time and effort?

Two experiments compared the effects of learning by drawing to studying instructor-provided visuals on learning outcomes, learning time, and cognitive load. College students studied a text on the human circulatory system and completed comprehension and transfer tests. In Experiment 1 (N = 107), students studied the text with provided visuals (provided visuals) or generated their own drawings from the text with text-based support (verbally-supported drawing) or without support (unsupported drawing). Results showed that while the verbally-supported drawing condition spent significantly more time and experienced significantly higher cognitive load than the provided visuals condition, there were no differences across the three conditions in learning outcomes. In Experiment 2 (N = 85), students studied the text with provided visuals (provided visuals) or generated drawings from the text with provided visuals as feedback (visually-supported drawing). Results showed that the visually-supported drawing condition spent significantly more time and experienced significantly higher cognitive load than the provided visuals condition but also performed significantly better than the provided visuals condition on the comprehension test. These findings suggest generating drawings prior to studying provided visuals is worth the time and effort.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Scientific Visualization In Two PowerPoint Delivery Strategies on Science Learning for Preservice Science Teachers

Slideware applications (e.g., PowerPoint) have become more prevalent in instruction across disciplines. This is especially true at post secondary institutions where many instructors are using slideware as a sole instructional tool. This study evaluated the relative effectiveness of scientific visualization in two PowerPoint delivery strategies on science learning for preservice teachers. Twenty-five preservice teachers enrolled in an undergraduate introduction to science education class were stratified into two PowerPoint delivery strategies. The strategies were: PowerPoint with instructor voiceover narration and PowerPoint without voiceover. Post-test Mann-Whitney U suggested no differences (p > 0.05) in science learning across the two strategies. Further, eye tracking analysis suggests voiceover guides the PowerPoint user to graphics and text, but voiceover does not significantly affect learning. Results suggest immediacy with technology doesn't necessarily produce meaningful learning. Good teaching still is the key component of meaningful learning.     

Adding immersive virtual reality to a science lab simulation causes more presence but less learning

Virtual reality (VR) is predicted to create a paradigm shift in education and training, but there is little empirical evidence of its educational value. The main objectives of this study were to determine the consequences of adding immersive VR to virtual learning simulations, and to investigate whether the principles of multimedia learning generalize to immersive VR. Furthermore, electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to obtain a direct measure of cognitive processing during learning. A sample of 52 university students participated in a 2 × 2 experimental cross-panel design wherein students learned from a science simulation via a desktop display (PC) or a head-mounted display (VR); and the simulations contained on-screen text or on-screen text with narration. Across both text versions, students reported being more present in the VR condition (d = 1.30); but they learned less (d = 0.80), and had significantly higher cognitive load based on the EEG measure (d = 0.59). In spite of its motivating properties (as reflected in presence ratings), learning science in VR may overload and distract the learner (as reflected in EEG measures of cognitive load), resulting in less opportunity to build learning outcomes (as reflected in poorer learning outcome test performance).     

Do drawing tasks improve monitoring and control during learning from text?

In two experiments it was investigated how drawing as a monitoring task affects self-regulated learning and cognitive load. To this end, participants (Exp. 1: N = 73, Exp. 2: N = 69) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the experimental condition, students were asked to read an expository text on the formation of polar lights consisting of five paragraphs, whereby, after each paragraph, they had to create a drawing of the text's content. In the control condition, students read the same text, but performed no drawing task. In both conditions, students had to give judgments of learning (JoLs) after each paragraph and after reading the whole text as well as rate their cognitive load. Then, they were asked to select paragraphs for restudy. In Experiment 1, participants continued with an assessment of their learning outcomes immediately after their restudy selection, whereas in Experiment 2 they were first given the opportunity to actually restudy the selected paragraphs before working on the posttest. Results of both experiments indicate that JoLs rather than cognitive load predicted posttest performance. Moreover, students in the drawing condition compared with the control condition exhibited more accurate (relative) monitoring in Experiment 1 in that their JoLs were more strongly related to performance. Moreover, JoLs predicted students' restudy decisions in both experiments; however, this effect was by-and-large independent of whether they had to draw. Overall, results hint towards the potential of drawing to support metacognitive monitoring.     

A closer look at split visual attention in system- and self-paced instruction in multimedia learning

Two experiments examined visual attention distribution in learning from text and pictures. Participants watched a 16-step multimedia instruction on the formation of lightning. In Experiment 1 (N = 90) the instruction was system-paced (fast, medium, slow pace), while it was self-paced in Experiment 2 (N = 31). In both experiments the text modality was varied (written, spoken). During learning, the participants’ eye movements were recorded. Results from both experiments revealed that learners spent more time studying the visualizations with spoken text than those with written text. In written text conditions learners consistently started reading before alternating between text and visualization; moreover, they spent more time reading the text than inspecting the visualizations. While in Experiment 1 additional time that was made available in conditions with a slow or medium instruction pace was spent inspecting visualizations, in Experiment 2 longer learning times resulted from reading the text more intensively. With respect to learning outcomes (retention, transfer, and visual memory) Experiment 1 revealed an effect of text modality for visual memory only. In Experiment 2 no modality effects were found. Instruction pace was hardly related to learning outcomes. Overall, the results confirm prior findings suggesting that the distribution of visual attention in multimedia learning is largely guided by the text.     

试论小说中的第二叙述者

叙述者是小说,也是叙事学中一个重要而复杂的问题。有的小说不只有叙述者,其背后,还有第二叙述者,如果叙述者与第二叙述者的取向不一致,便会造成叙事歧义。与叙述者一样,第二叙述者也是作者的虚拟人物,通过抽象的形式渗透在文本之中,读者可以绕过叙述者与第二叙述者进行秘密交流,从而容纳多元化的声音,编织富有弹性的艺术张力。     

论《斯人记》的叙述策略

《斯人记》的叙述策略主要表现在：全知叙述与限知叙述的相互转换使叙述灵活自如,叙述者化身为作品中的人物产生身临其境之感,话语模式与对话艺术的衔接产生较强的语言张力,叙述频率与和合律的设置进一步深化了文本主题。这种叙述策略来自对前人小说和戏剧、电影艺术的借鉴,又有作者的独创和时代的原因。     

"小说化"叙述方式对中国古代戏曲悲剧的影响

迥异于西方戏剧的叙述方式是中国古代戏曲尤其是戏曲悲剧独特风貌形成的直接原因。从今天的文体观来看,古代戏曲中实有着小说与戏剧叙述方式共生的现象而又倾向于前者,突出表现在叙述者的存在、开放式叙事与史传式结构等几个方面,这种"小说化"的叙述方式给古代戏曲悲剧带来了两点影响,表现在文本存在形态的复杂性和兴亡悲剧的杰出成就上。     

《维莱特》的叙述者为何“不可靠”

19世纪英国女作家夏洛蒂.勃朗特的小说《维莱特》以第一人称手法讲述了主人公露西的经历,关于其叙述可靠性的问题,学界存在两种对立观点,本文从叙述者角色的边缘化和叙述时间差、文本层的缄默与含混,以及读者层的多样伦理回应等三个层面入手,将修辞方法与认知方法结合,从作者动因、文本现象和读者的循环互动中探讨《维莱特》的＂不可靠叙述＂。     

试论小说中的自由直接话语与亚自由直接话语

小说是叙述语与转述语的组合。叙述语被叙述者控制,主要表现为概述、议论与描写。转语则被人物控制,主要是人物之间的对话与内心独白。转述语有五钟形式,即:直接话语、间接话语、自由间接话语、自由直接话语与亚自由直接话语,后两种形态的转述语频繁地大面积出现,显示出叙述语与转述语的合流,展示了中国当下小说叙事特征的变化。     

The modality effect in a mobile learning environment: Learning from spoken text and real objects

The finding that under split-attention conditions students learn more from a picture and spoken text than from a picture and written text (ie, the modality effect) has consistently been found in many types of computer-assisted multimedia learning environments. Using 58 fifth-grade and sixth-grade elementary school children as participants, we investigated whether the modality effect can also be found in a mobile learning environment (MLE) on plants' leaf morphology, in which students had to learn by integrating information from text and real plants in the physical environment. A single factor experimental design was used to examine the hypothesis that students in a mixed-mode condition with real plants and spoken text (STP condition) would pay more attention to the real plants, and achieve higher performance on retention, comprehension, and transfer tests than the single-mode condition with real plants and written text (WTP condition). Whereas we found that participants in the STP condition paid more attention to observing the plants, and achieved a higher score on the transfer test than participants in the WTP condition, no differences were found between the conditions for retention and comprehension test performance.     

《平凡的世界》的叙述声音之特点

《平凡的世界》采用了叙事学理论中的“作者叙事情境”进行叙述。这种叙事情境决定了文本必然会出现“公开的叙述者”“评论”的叙述声音,其中的“判断性评论”这一叙述声音主要表现在对劳动和劳动者的热爱以及对人生的感悟这两个方面。     

也论戏剧文本中的不可靠叙述——以《奥赛罗》中的伊阿古为例

"不可靠叙述"是当前叙事学研究的一个热门话题。不可靠叙述的修辞性理论创始人韦恩.布思,主张以隐含作者的规范为标准判断叙述者的可靠性,后经修辞性叙事理论家詹姆斯.费伦进一步发展了他的观点,将"不可靠叙述"分成了6种类型,进而又细分为"疏远型不可靠性"和"契约型不可靠性"两大类别。探讨戏剧叙事作品中的不可靠叙事策略不仅可以促进读者对戏剧文本的多层次解读,影响读者的伦理判断,而且可以引导读者更深层次地理解剧本的创作过程,体会到文本的经典价值。     

Redirecting learners' attention during training: effects on cognitive load,transfer test performance and training efficiency

Cognitive load theory provides guidelines for improving the training of complex cognitive skills and their transfer to new situations. One guideline states that extraneous cognitive load that is irrelevant to the construction of cognitive schemata should be minimised. Experiment 1 (N=26) compares completion problems, conventional problems, and a learner-controlled condition in which learners may choose between problem formats. Completion problems decrease cognitive load during training and have a zero or positive effect on transfer performance. A second guideline states that germane cognitive load that is directly relevant to schema construction should be optimised. In Experiment 2 (N=69) practice schedules of either high or low contextual interference are compared (HCI and LCI). HCI increases cognitive load during training and shows a trend towards higher transfer performance. Experiment 3 (N=87) combines both guidelines in a factorial experiment with the factors problem format (completion vs. conventional) and contextual interference (HCI vs. LCI). It is hypothesised that redirecting attention from extraneous to germane processes will improve training efficiency, i.e. positively affect the balance between cognitive load during training and transfer test performance. In support of this hypothesis, it is found that the completion-HCI group shows highest training efficiency. But transfer test performance for this group is disappointing. The results are discussed in relation to the operationalisation of HCI in combination with completion problems.     

论晚清政治小说和谴责小说的差异

晚清政治小说和谴责小说存在着诸多差异。在叙事题材上,表现为政治小说和谴责小说不同的书写方式;在叙述体式上,表现为文本叙述中作者意识与叙述者意识的不同关系处理;此外,两类知识分子的不同价值立场和身份认同导致了两种不同的启蒙姿态和书写方式。