Redundancy principle: animation plus narration beats animation, narration, and on-screen text for transfer¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · reviewr2·q3·i2medium
Currency · newest study 2008 · checked against its sources 2026-10-14 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i2 In 5 of 5 experiments, people who received animation and narration performed better on transfer tests than people who received animation, narration, and on-screen text, median d = 0.72. → Richard E. Mayer 2008
Evidence¶
Richard E. Mayer 2008¶
Richard E. Mayer. (2008). Applying the Science of Learning: Evidence-Based Principles for the Design of Multimedia Instruction. American Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.63.8.760
q3 · i2 · review · r2
Controlled experiments adding concurrent on-screen text to narrated animations on lightning and environmental science; the article reports the quoted 5-of-5 result and that "The median effect size was 0.72, which is a medium effect."
"in 5 out of 5 experiments, involving computer-based lessons on lightning and environmental science, people who received animation and narration performed better on a transfer test than people who received animation, narration, and on-screen text"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Presenting words as spoken narration rather than on-screen text alongside graphics improves learning — a broader claim this one bears on
- Redundant on-screen text impairs learning when it competes with a visualization, though written text duplicating narration alone can help — a broader claim this one bears on
- In one middle-school quasi-experiment, adding written text to spoken narration makes no significant difference to achievement with either abstract or concrete animation — reports the opposite
- On-screen text that duplicates the narration of a diagram can hurt learning, but spoken–written redundancy is not harmful on average and helps over spoken-only presentation in some conditions — a broader claim this one bears on
- Modality principle: graphics with spoken text beat graphics with printed text for transfer — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
redundancy-principle-mayer-2008 |
title |
Redundancy principle: animation plus narration beats animation, narration, and on-screen text for transfer |
description |
Redundancy principle: animation plus narration beats animation, narration, and on-screen text for transfer |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2008 |
source_checked |
2026-10-14 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-13 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — richard-e-mayer-2008 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.