The Effect of Colored Embellishment of a Visual Array on a Simultaneously Presented Audio Array 1

ADRIAN CHAN

ROBERT M. W. TRAVERS

A D R I A N P. VAN MONDFRANS

The use of audiovisual teaching materials involves the presenta- tion of information through both the audio and visual channels. The use of colored embellishment in the visual channel has been assumed to have differential effects, depending upon the type of information that was to be transmitted. However, it is com- mon for color and other forms of embellishments to be used when these do not have a function with respect to information trans- mission other than that of attracting attention or producing aes- thetic effect (real or supposed). This experiment is designed to study the effect on learning of colored embellishments of the visual materials involved in a task to be learned. The task in- volves both visual and auditory transmission of information, but only the visual component is presented, both with and without

1 This experiment was conducted under the sponsorship of the United States Office of Education, Research Project No. C-997. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the University Cooperative Research Committee, University of Utah, who provided some of the equipment used.

The authors are with the Bureau of Educational Research, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

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METHOD

Material

colored embellishment. In the task selected for the study, the embellishment provides no relevant information.

Mowbray looked at the problem of simultaneous vision and audition (I, 2, 3). In the 1953 study (2), the Ss were presented with prose passages of varying difficulty. The passages were pre- sented both aurally and visually at the same time, and at the same rate of words per minute. The learning was measured by a Io-item questionnaire which was designed to measure both com- prehension of the paragraph and retention of discrete facts. The scores from the simultaneous trials were compared with scores from control groups that performed the same tasks nonsimultane- ously. One of the conclusions drawn was that "the auditory chan- nel showed significantly greater disruption of performance than the visual for the simultaneous operation." (2, p. 37I) That is, when different passages of the same difficulty were presented at the same rate simultaneously through the audio and visual chan- nels, the audio channel suffered the greatest loss of efficiency.

This same finding was substantiated in the I954 study (I), even though vastly different stimulus materials were used. The Ss were provided with outline maps which they were to complete. Brief, simultaneous visual and auditory instructions were pre- sented to the Ss for completing some of the missing details. All of the relevant audio and visual information was presented simul- taneously in every case. It was found that when the information needed for completing the maps was presented simultaneously through the audio and visual channels, more correct completions were made using the visuaUy presented information than the audio information.

This finding has important implications for the design of au- diovisual aids since it is the usual practice to present most of the information that is to be transmitted via the auditory channel. The problem would be even more important if the addition of colored embellishment in the visual presentation would result in more disruption. This is the central question in this study.

It is hypothesized that the presentation of colored-embdlished visual nonsense syUables will interfere with the reception of audio syllables more than would black-and-white visual syllables. It is further hypothesized that more will be learned from the visual syllables than from the audio syllables. Two different lists of nonsense syllables (eight in each list) were chosen from Krueger's list; ali syllabhs had a meaningfulness

COLORED EMBELLISHMENT OF A VISUAL ARRAY : I 6 ~

rating of from .5 o to .6o. One list of nonsense syllables was made into (a) a colored and embellished filmstrip and (b) a black-and- white filmstrip. The second list was recorded on magnetic tape. (The two lists are presented in Table I.) The colored-embellished filmstrip was composed of nonsense syllables with novel and col- ored letters on unusual colored backgrounds consisting of wall- paper. The black-and-white filmstrip used the same nonsense syllables on an off-white background in plain black letters.

TABLE 1

Usts of Nonsense

Syllables Used

Visual nonsense syllables (either colored and embellished

or black and white)

Audio nonsense syllables

Simultaneously in the

Experiment

1. JEB 1. ZAS 2. YOG 2. POF 3. BIP 3. NID 4. YOZ 4. WUB 5. KEX 5. TEl: 6. VUT 6. PAB 7. BIV 7. MIF 8. YAB 8. GAX

Subjects

Procedure

The Ss were all from the introductory psychology dass at the University of Utah. One hundred and sixty-six Ss participated. They signed up for the experiment in groups of from four to six. Each group was assigned at random to one of the two experi- mental conditions. After the random assignment of a given group of Ss to one of the two experimental conditions, they were seated in a room with a one-way window at one end to which a screen had been affixed. The Ss were instructed that they would be presented with two sets of nonsense syllables at the same time. One set would be visually presented and the other set aurally presented. It should be noted that each S was looking at one nonsense syllable at a time, but at this same time another syllable was pronounced. The task of the Ss was to remember as many of both sets of non- sense syllables as they could. After a complete presentation of the eight pairs of nonsense syllables, the Ss were allowed 9 ~ sec- onds in which to write down as many nonsense syllables as they could remember. The answer sheets used had places for two lists of eight nonsense syllables each, one headed with the word "vis-

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RESULTS

ual," and the other with the word "audio." A correct response was made when the S wrote a nonsense syllable under the head- ing that represented the mode by which it had been presented, and when the nonsense syllable was correctly spelled. It was not necessary that the nonsense syllables be in order. Each S received ten presentations of the eight pairs.

The syllables were presented at the rate of one each 2-sec., and were exposed for o.6-sec. The visual presentations were ef- fected by projecting the image (with a filmstrip projector) through one-way glass onto the back of the screen in the experi- mental room. The audio presentation used a tape recorder. The two were synchronized so that a shutter would open for o.6-sec., allowing one visual nonsense syllable to be projected on the screen at the same time another nonsense syllable was orally pre- sented (the whole syllable pronounced). The exposure time of 0.6- sec. for each simultaneous presentation was selected because it gave the Ss approximately the same amount of time to attend to the visual presentation and the audio presentation, since each audio presentation lasted about o.6-sec. The experimental design consisted of a 2 x 2 fixed model, factorial design with repeated measures. Groups of Ss were assigned ran- domly to either (a) condition BW (where Ss were presented two different sets of nonsense syllables at the same time, one visually, using black letters and a white background, and the other aural- ly), or (b) condition CE (where Ss were presented simultaneously with the same two lists of nonsense syllables as in condition BW, but the visual presentation involved novel colored letters on un- usual backgrounds). Table 2 presents the means and SDs for each condition.

TABLE 2

Means and SDs of Scores

Total No. Learning Condition Correct N Mean SD

in the Two Experimental

Conditions

Condition Colored Embellished Visual 3234 83 38.96 • 10.24 Simultaneous Audio 1417 83 17.07 • 9.75

Total 4651

Condition Black and White Visual 2875 83 34.63 • 11.59 Simultaneous Audio 1727 83 20.81 • 12.22

Total 4602

COLORED EMBELLISHMENT OF A VISUAL ARRAY : :I6 3

TABLE 3

Analysis of Variance for

In Table 3, the summary of the analysis of variance is pre- sented. The total amount learned in the CE condition was not different from the total amount learned in the BW condition.

The amount learned via the audio channel was significantly less than that learned via the visual channel (p~.oo5). This sub- stantiates the second hypothesis and fits the data from the Mow- bray studies.

Sum of Mean Source Squares Df Squares F P

Experimental Condition and

Presentation Mode

Between Ss Total 32,269.93 165 CE Condition vs. BW

Condition 7.23 1 Between Ss Error

Term 32,262.70 164

Within Ss Total 49,612.50 166 Audio vs. Visual 26,479.59 1 Interaction 1,348.08 1 Residual 21,784.83 164

Grand Total 81,881.43 331

7.23 - - n.s.

196.72

26,479.59 198.47 .001 1,348.08 10.10 .001

133.42 - - - -

Of special interest to this study is the finding that the inter- action between the mode of presentation (audio or visual) and the experimental conditions (CE or BW) was significant (p(.oo~). To break apart this effect, a Duncan Multiple Range test was used. The results are reported in Table 4. As can be seen from the table, there were fewer nonsense syllables learned via the audio channel when the audio was paired with the CE visual presentation than when paired with the BW visual presentation (p ( .o5) . It is also important to note that more nonsense syllables were learned via the CE visual presentation than via the BW visual presentation (p~.os). These two findings indicate that although there is the same total amount of learning taking place under these two experimental conditions, the relative effective- ness of the audio channel when paired with the CE visual pres- entation is significantly less than when it is paired with the BW visual. Thus, under the CE condition more is learned via the visual channel than under the BW condition, but less is learned via the audio channel. It is therefore concluded that a CE (colored- embellished) visual presentation disrupts the reception of the

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tABLE 4 Summary of

Duncan

CE Audio BW Audio BW Visual CE Visual 1417 1727 2875 3234

Multiple Range Test

on the Number of

CE Audio 1417 BW Audio 1727 BW Visual 2875 CE Visual 3234

310" 1458"* 1817"* 1148"* 1507"*

359*

Correct Responses

DISCUSSION

REFERENCES

* The difference is significant at the .05 level. ** The difference is significant at the .01 level.

audio information more than does a BW (black-and-white) vis- ual presentation. The data supported the hypothesis that more would be learned via the visual channd than through the auditory channel when nonredundant information was presented simultaneously through both channels. This finding was in line with the findings of the Mowbray studies (I, 2).

Of primary importance is the substantiation of the first hy- pothesis which stated that a colored-embellished visual presenta- tion would disrupt the audio channel more than a black-and- white visual presentation. This was found to be the case. Not only was less learned via the audio channel under the CE condition (p <.05), but also more was learned via the visual channel un- der the CE condition (p<.os). The over-all amount learned under the CE condition did not differ significantly from the amount learned under the BW condition. Nevertheless, the ratio of effec- tiveness of the audio to the visual changed under the two condi- tions. Thus, the increment in learning via the visual channel, due to the addition of colored embellishment, does not result in an increase in the over-all amount learned since it occurs at the ex- pense of the audio channd.

2. Mowbray, G. H. "The Perception of Short Phrases Presented Si- multaneously for Visual and Auditory Reception." Quarterly Jour- nal of Experimental Psychology 6:86-92; x954.

z. . "Simultaneous Vision and Audition: The Comprehension of Prose Passages with Varying Levels of Difficulty." Journal of Experimental Psychology 46:365-72; x953.

3. . "Simultaneous Vision and Audition: The Detection of Elements Missing from Overlearned Sequences." Journal of Ex- perimental Psychology 44:292-300; I9.52.