2. • People learn better when interesting, but relevant details are excluded rather
than included in the instructional materials.
• People learn better when interesting, but irrelevant sounds and music are
excluded from the instructional materials.
• Extraneous words, pictures, and sounds should be excluded.
• Example a presentation on the water cycle would not need graphics that
relates to the muscular system.
3. • Seductive Details are used to add interesting, but irrelevant material to a passage in
order to spice it up and adds interest for the reader.
• The reader determines that the seductive details are entertaining and interesting.
• The presence of seductive details may direct the learner’s attention away from the
relevant material.
• According to the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, adding seductive details will
result in poorer performance on tests of transfer of knowledge.
4. • Arousal Theory
• the idea that students learn better when they are
emotionally aroused by the material.
• According to the arousal theory, adding interesting but
irrelevant material catches the reader’s attention so that
they pay more attention and learn more overall.
• In the case of adding interesting words and pictures, prior
research shows that less is more. Less material can
provide greater comprehension of presented material.
• Students with low working memory capacity will spend
more time focused on the graphics than on students with
high working memory
5. • Based on the arousal theory
• According to the theory, this addition makes the
instructional materials more enjoyable for the learner,
which raises the learner’s level of emotional arousal.
• The cognitive theory of multimedia learning predicts a
coherence effect in which adding interesting materials,
such as music and sounds, hurts student learning.
