Changing Perceptions of Animated Diagrams

Abstract

While the educational effectiveness of static diagrams is underpinned by a long heritage of manipulating visuospatial characteristics of the depicted content to improve explanatory power, no corresponding evolution has occurred regarding temporal manipulation of animated diagrams. When complex dynamic subject matter is presented using animations that depict temporal information in a behaviorally realistic manner, the perceptual properties of the display may be poorly matched to the learner’s information processing capacities. An exploration of the effect on information extraction of manipulating the speed and presentation frequency of an animation depicting dynamically–complex subject matter suggests that such manipulations may be used to improve perception of thematically relevant information.