Chapter 6: Temporal Contiguity Principle

Chapter 6: Temporal Contiguity Principle
Mayer, R. E. (2001). Multimedia learning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Keywords: Mayer, transfer, retention, temporal contiguity principle, simultaneous, successive.
Mayer explains the temporal contiguity principle and demonstrates its empirical rationale by means of two cases: separating and integrating words and pictures. As in the other chapters he does the transfer and retention tests and points out the implications for learning and for design.
Useful quotes:

• Temporal Contiguity Principle: Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively. P 96
• When corresponding portions of narrations and animation are presented at the same time, the learner is more likely to be able to hold mental representations of both in working memory at the same time, and thus the learner is more likely to be able to build mental connections between verbal and visual representations. P96
• …simultaneously rather than successively. P96
• When you receive two deliveries- first a delivery via the word route and then a delivery via the picture route, or vice versa – you have a greater chance of placing more information in memory (according to the information delivery). P100
• According to the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, humans are not information storage machines who receive deliveries of information and store the deliveries in memory. Instead, humans are sense makers who engage in active cognitive processes such as selecting relevant words and pictures, organizing the selected material into verbal and visual mental models, and integrating the verbal and visual models. P100
• Simultaneous presentations are designed to mesh with the human information processing system –including the availability of separate visual verbal channels as well as the extreme limits on the capacity of each channel. P100-101
• … successive presentations first present material to be processed in one channel and then present material to be processed in the other one. Instead of being sensitive to human limitations in working memory capacity, successive presentations require that a learner be able to hold the entire narration in working memory until the narration is presented (or vice versa). P101
• The temporal contiguity effect provides an important example of what is wrong with assuming that the instructional designer’s job is to present information. Even though the simultaneous and successive presentations contain the same animation and narration, students do not appear to learn equally from them… Simultaneous presentations prime the learner to build connections between corresponding visual and verbal material, whereas successive presentations make this active cognitive processing much more difficult. Thus, instructional design involves not just presenting information but also presenting it in a way that encourages learners to engage in appropriate cognitive processing. P112

Questions he asks

• Which is better for your multimedia encyclopedia entry – successive or simultaneous presentation? P90

Alberto Ramirez Martinell