The Effects of Individual Differences in Working Memory on Multimedia Learning

Abstract

With the advance of instructional technologies, multimedia presentation formats have become increasingly common in business, military, and educational pursuits. Previous research has found that the use of certain multimedia design principles may alleviate demands on working memory and thus improve the learning process (Mayer, 2001). Our study examined the utility of three of these principles: the contiguity, redundancy and modality principles (Mayer & Moreno, 2003), in the design of a multimedia presentation explaining the formation of hail. Results indicated that use of the contiguity, redundancy, and modality principles tended to increase learning outcomes for individuals with low working memory capacities but decrease learning outcomes for those with higher working memory capacities. These findings call into question the generality of these design principles, and suggest that multimedia designers should carefully consider the effects of individual differences in the human learner

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