Does Animation Amplify the Modality Effect – or is there any Modality Effect at All?

Abstract

Abstract.This study aimed to examine if the modality effect is amplified by the matter of animation. Visual dynamics are suspected to increase split attention affordances due to a higher salience and transience compared to static visuals. In two experiments students watched an instruction on the formation of lightning while their eye movements were recorded. Both experiments varied text presentation (spoken, written) and visualization format (dynamic, static) in a 2x2 design. Learning outcomes were measured with verbal retention, visual retention, and transfer tests. Experiment 1 (N = 50) revealed a modality effect (i. e. better performance in spoken text groups) for visual retention but not for verbal retention and transfer. Experiment 2 (N = 60) replicated Experiment 1 with a faster presentation pace, expecting faster presentation to enlarge modality effects. In contrast, Experiment 2 revealed no modality effects in learning outcomes. In both experiments participants spent less time viewing visualizations when text was written. Within written text conditions text was read first and gained more visual attention than visualizations. Viewing time did not significantly vary between dynamic and static visualizations. Thus, animation did neither affect viewing behavior nor learning outcome. Moreover, the lack of effects in a standard manipulation of text modality cast doubts on the reliability of modality effects and, hence, on the validity of a general modality principle.