Abstract
ABSTRACT Entertainment-education (E-E) is widely recognized in media research as an effective tool for persuasion, particularly through its unique impact on comprehensive mental processes such as narrative transportation. However, there is a notable gap in understanding how viewers cognitively engage with and learn from E-E content while simultaneously enjoying it. Addressing this gap, this study proposes an empirical model to assess cognitive load in processing both narrative content and embedded educational information. An online experiment (N = 496) is conducted with two abridged versions of a medical drama episode: one with and one without open captions containing explicit educational material. The results indicate that cognitive load associated with learning can enhance the appreciation of narrative content through knowledge acquisition and narrative content recall, particularly when relevant information is integrated unobtrusively into the narrative via open captioning. These findings support the notion that carefully incorporating educational information into E-E content can promote narrative engagement and facilitate educational knowledge acquisition. This can be achieved not by demanding additional cognitive effort, but by efficiently allocating available cognitive resources across two distinct cognitive load pathways: one for narrative processing and another for processing educational information.
Published Version
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