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Communicating Dynamic Behaviors: Are Interactive Multimedia Presentations Better than Static Mixed-Mode Presentations?

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Theory and Application of Diagrams (Diagrams 2000)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 1889))

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Abstract

Static mixed-mode presentations consisting of verbal explanations illustrated with diagrams have long been used to communicate information. With the advent of multimedia, such presentations have become dynamic, by migrating from paper to the computer and by adding interactivity and animation. The conventional wisdom is that computer-based multimedia presentations are better than printed presentations. However, does the communicative power of mixed-mode representations stem from their careful design to match cognitive processes involved in comprehension or from their interactive and animated nature? This is an important issue that has never been investigated. This paper first presents a cognitive model of comprehension of mixed-mode representations. We describe how this model generates design guidelines for mixed-mode representations that present expository material in two domains - the concrete domain of mechanical systems and the abstract domain of computer algorithms. We then report on a series of studies that compared computer-based interactive multimedia presentations and their paper-based counterparts. Both were designed in accordance with the comprehension model and were compared against each other and against competing representational forms such as books, CD-ROMs, and animations. These studies indicate that the effectiveness of mixed-mode presentations has more to do with their match with comprehension processes than the medium of presentation. In other words, benefits of interactivity and animation are likely being overstated in the current milieu of fascination with multimedia.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Intelligent & Interactive Systems Laboratory Department of Computer Science & Software Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA

    N. Hari Narayanan

  2. Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Mary Hegarty

Authors
  1. N. Hari Narayanan
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  2. Mary Hegarty
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of Hartford, Dana Hall 230, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, Connecticut, 06117, USA

    Michael Anderson

  2. School of Psychology ESRC Centre for Research in Development, Instruction and Training, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    Peter Cheng

  3. Computer Science Department, University of Hamburg, Vogt-Koelln-Str. 30, 22527, Hamburg, Germany

    Volker Haarslev

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© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Narayanan, N.H., Hegarty, M. (2000). Communicating Dynamic Behaviors: Are Interactive Multimedia Presentations Better than Static Mixed-Mode Presentations?. In: Anderson, M., Cheng, P., Haarslev, V. (eds) Theory and Application of Diagrams. Diagrams 2000. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 1889. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44590-0_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44590-0_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-67915-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44590-6

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