Relative Comprehensibility of Pictorial Information and Printed Words in Proceduralized Instructions

Abstract

A study was conducted to compare the relative comprehensibility of pictorial information and printed words in instructions. Six picture-word formats were examined using 24 procedural problems on three types of tasks. The formats were print-only, pictorial-only, pictorial-related print, print-related pictorial, pictorial-redundant print, and print-redundant pictorial. The results showed pictorial information important for speed but print information necessary for accuracy. Comprehension of instructions on all three tasks was most efficient with the pictorial-related print and pictorial-redundant print formats but could not be shown to be simply a function of number of visual information channels used or the degree of redundancy between channels. The type of information displayed in the visual channels was found to be important.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bern

H. A.

Learning and physiological responses to various word-picture combinations. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 1958.

Booher

H. R.

Effects of still pictures and printed words on comprehension of job performance instructions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Catholic University, 1973.

Chapanis

Words, words, words. Human Factors, 1965, 7, 1–17.

Edwards

A. L.

Statistical methods for the behavioral sciences. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962.

Gibson

J. J.

A theory of pictorial perception. Audio-Visual Communication Review, 1954, 1, 3–23.

Gibson

J. J.

The senses considered as perceptual systems. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1966.

Cropper

G. L.

Why is a picture worth a thousand words?

Audio-Visual Communication Review, 1963, 11, 75–95.

Haber

R. N.

How we remember what we see. Scientific American, 1970, 222, 104–112.

Hartman

F. R.

Single and multiple channel communication: A review of research and a proposed model. Audio-Visual Communication Review, 1961, 9, 235–262.

10.

Lumsdaine

A. A.

The effectiveness of pictures versus printed words in learning simple verbal associations. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, 1949.

11.

Lumsdaine

A. A.

Cue and response functions of pictures and words. In May

M. A.

Lumsdaine

A. A.

(Ed.) Learning from films. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1958, 123–149.

12.

Piaget

The mechanisms of perception. New York: Basic Books, 1969.

13.

Severin

The effectiveness of relevant pictures in multiple channel communications. Audio-Visual Communication Review, 1967, 15.

14.

Siegel

Non-parametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1956.

15.

Wicker

F. W.

On the locus of picture-word differences in paired associate learning. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1970, 9, 52–57.