Visual effects as an aid in learning hierarchically organized information

摘要

The question at issue in this study is whether the use of visual effects may facilitate learning of hierarchically organized information in a computerized data base. Two versions of such a data base were constructed, one (VE) including visual effects emphasizing the direction of a move within the structure, and one (NE) without. The efficiency with which subjects (13-year-old students), using the VE (N = 50) or NE (N = 52) versions, learned the content of the data base was measured by a paper-and-pencil test. Scores on a battery of ability tests were used to form a hierarchical model of intelligence, in which a general factor was identified together with specialized verbal and spatial factors. In addition, a measurement model for the achievement test was fitted to the data. Performance was then related to the ability factors in a series of LISREL models. No main effects could be detected. However, differential effects were found, the main finding being that the addition of visual effects seems to have lowered the demands on general ability, a result that fits into a more general pattern of results from research on aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) effects.