How do you balance the cognitive load and the multimedia effect in dual coding?

1 What is cognitive load?

Cognitive load refers to the amount of mental effort required to process information in your working memory. Working memory is limited and can be easily overloaded by too much or too complex information. When your cognitive load is high, you have less mental resources to focus on learning and understanding. Therefore, you want to reduce the cognitive load as much as possible when using dual coding.

2 What is the multimedia effect?

The multimedia effect is the phenomenon that learning from both words and pictures is more effective than learning from words alone. This is because words and pictures activate different channels in your brain and can complement each other. However, the multimedia effect also depends on how well the words and pictures are integrated and aligned. If the words and pictures are redundant, irrelevant, or inconsistent, they can increase the cognitive load and reduce the learning outcome.

3 How to balance the cognitive load and the multimedia effect?

To balance the cognitive load and the multimedia effect, you need to consider four principles of dual coding design: coherence, signaling, redundancy, and spatial contiguity. These principles help you to select, organize, and present the verbal and visual information in a way that maximizes learning and minimizes confusion.

4 Coherence principle

The coherence principle states that you should avoid adding any extraneous or irrelevant information to your dual coding material. For example, if you are using a diagram to explain a concept, you should not add any decorative or distracting elements that do not support the explanation. Similarly, if you are using a narration to accompany a picture, you should not add any background music or sound effects that do not enhance the meaning. By eliminating the unnecessary information, you can reduce the cognitive load and focus on the essential information.

5 Signaling principle

The signaling principle states that you should highlight or emphasize the important information in your dual coding material. For example, if you are using a text to explain a picture, you should use headings, bullet points, or keywords to guide the reader's attention. Similarly, if you are using a voice-over to explain a video, you should use pauses, intonation, or gestures to stress the key points. By signaling the important information, you can enhance the multimedia effect and facilitate the integration of verbal and visual information.

6 Redundancy principle

The redundancy principle states that you should avoid presenting the same information in both verbal and visual forms. For example, if you are using a graph to show a trend, you should not also use a text or a voice-over to describe the same trend. This is because redundant information can increase the cognitive load and interfere with the processing of information. Instead, you should use verbal and visual information to complement each other and provide different perspectives or details.

7 Spatial contiguity principle

The spatial contiguity principle states that you should place the verbal and visual information close to each other on the same screen or page. For example, if you are using a label to identify a part of an image, you should place the label near the part rather than at the bottom or the side of the image. This is because spatial contiguity can reduce the cognitive load and enhance the multimedia effect by making it easier to connect the verbal and visual information.

8 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?