4.4 Article

Attention mediates the effect of emotional arousal on learning outcomes in multimedia learning: an eye-tracking study

Journal

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 43, Issue 1, Pages 38-56

Publisher

ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/01443410.2022.2154317

Keywords

Emotion; arousal; multimedia learning; emotional design; eye-tracking; attention

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Recent psychological studies have found that emotional arousal improves human memory, but more evidence is needed to determine if these findings apply to multimedia learning environments. This study examined the effect of emotional arousal on multimedia learning using eye-tracking technology and found that emotional arousal enhanced recall and transfer scores, as well as attracted attention. Mediation analysis indicated that fixation time on emotional pictures mediated the relationship between emotional arousal and learning outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of emotional multimedia elements in guiding attention for learning.
Recent findings from psychological studies have shown that emotional arousal improves human memory. However, more evidence is necessary if these results are generalisable to multimedia learning environments. Considering these needs, the study has the goal to examine the effect of emotional arousal on multimedia learning. Fifty-seven participants were presented with instructional materials with either high- or low-arousing words and pictures in an experimental study. The eye movements of participants were recorded while they studied the instructional materials to examine the online processes during learning. The results suggest that emotional arousal enhanced recall and transfer scores. The eye-tracking results demonstrate that emotional arousal attracted attention. The results of the mediation analysis suggest that fixation time on emotional pictures as an indicator of attention mediated the relationship between emotional arousal and learning outcomes. The findings show the importance of the guidance of attention by emotional multimedia elements for learning.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.4
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available