Multimedia, Information Complexity, and Cognitive Processing

Organizations are faced with increasing costs needed to train employees in today’s high technology environment. Educators are also striving to develop new training and teaching methods that will yield optimal learning transfer and complex skill acquisition. This study suggests that trainee/learner cognitive processing capacity, information presentation format and complexity, and multimedia technology should be leveraged in order to minimize training duration and costs and maximize knowledge transfer. It presents a causal model of how multimedia and information complexity interact to influence sustained attention, mental effort and information processing quality, all of which subsequently impact comprehension and learner confidence and satisfaction outcomes. Subjects read a text script, viewed an acetate overhead slide presentation containing text-with-graphics, or viewed a multimedia presentation depicting the greenhouse effect (low complexity) or photocopier operation (high complexity). Causal path analysis results indicated that presentation media (or format) had a direct impact on sustained attention, mental effort, information processing quality, comprehension, and learner confidence and satisfaction. Information complexity had direct effects on sustained attention, mental effort and information processing quality. Finally, comprehension and learner confidence and satisfaction were both influenced through an intervening sequence of sustained attention, mental effort and information processing quality.