The spatial contiguity principle is that people learn and perform better when corresponding printed text and graphics are placed near rather than far from each other on the screen or page. This is a well-established design principle in multimedia learning. However, there is insufficient research to establish the appropriate distance between text…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of instruction enriched with either simple or complex graphics on perception, interpretation of visuals in terms of the visual language used, and on the orientation of attention on visuals during perception and interpretation of visuals. The study was designed based on the randomised…

This study assessed the extent to which visuospatial processing, as measured by visual scanning behaviour, was associated with infants' ability to recognize mirror image and structurally distinct three-dimensional objects. Simplified Shepard and Metzler (1971) images were employed. Using a remote eye-tracker, infants ages 10 to 17 months (n = 130)…

Referential gaze has been shown to benefit language processing in situated communication in terms of shifting visual attention and leading to shorter reaction times on subsequent tasks. The present study simultaneously assessed both visual attention and, importantly, the immediate cognitive load induced at different stages of sentence processing.…

Typical physics textbook problems often include supportive diagrams that visualize the physical situation although the potential benefits of providing such diagrams is not yet fully established. We used eye tracking to explore the role of supportive diagrams in problem solving. Including a supportive diagram with the text of the problem improved…

Multimedia students' dependence on information from the outside world can have an impact on their ability to identify and locate information from multiple resources in learning environments and thereby affect the construction of mental models. Field dependence-independence has been used to assess the ability to extract essential information from…

We used eye-tracking to investigate the roles of enhanced discrimination and peripheral selection in superior visual search in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children with ASD were faster at visual search than their typically developing peers. However, group differences in performance and eye-movements did not vary with the level of difficulty of…

Despite the importance of handwriting for school readiness and early academic progress, prior research on the development of handwriting has focused primarily on the product rather than the process by which young children write letters. In contrast, in the present work, early handwriting is viewed as involving a suite of perceptual, motor, and…

This article examined the role of task demand and its effects on transfer in geographic learning. Student performance was measured through eye-movement analysis in two related experiments. In Experiment 1, the participants were told that they would travel through an area depicted in photographs either driving an automobile or observing the…

Speech perception involves the integration of auditory and visual articulatory information, and thus requires the perception of temporal synchrony between this information. There is evidence that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulty with auditory speech perception but it is not known if this is also true for the…

The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether the mental load of a cognitive task prevents the processing of visual stimuli, that is, whether the mental load produces inattentional blindness, and at what point in the cognitive-task processing more interference is produced. An arithmetic task with two levels of mental load was used in a…

The present study investigated (a) whether the perceived cognitive load was different when geometry problems with various levels of configuration comprehension were solved and (b) whether eye movements in comprehending geometry problems showed sources of cognitive loads. In the first investigation, three characteristics of geometry configurations…

This dissertation examines the cognitive processes individuals use when reading organic chemistry equations and factors that affect these processes, namely, visual complexity of chemical equations and participant characteristics (expertise, spatial ability, and working memory capacity). A six stage process model for the comprehension of organic…

These proceedings contain the papers of the 16th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2019), held during November 7-9, 2019, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) and co-organised by University Degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy.…