Revised visuals reduce cognitive processing of math-relevant visuals for low prior knowledge students but increase it for middle prior knowledge students¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2017 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Total fixation duration on math-relevant visuals showed a condition by prior knowledge interaction, F(2, 51) = 6.57, p = .002, with revisions reducing processing for low prior knowledge students and increasing it for middle prior knowledge students. → Clinton 2017

Evidence¶

Clinton 2017¶

Clinton, V., Cooper, J.L., Michaelis, J., Alibali, M.W., & Nathan, M.J. (2017). How Revisions to Mathematical Visuals Affect Cognition: Evidence from Eye Tracking. In Eye-tracking technology applications in educational research (pp. 195-218). IGI Global. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED574984 doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-1005-5.ch010

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Eye-tracking experiment measuring total fixation duration on math-relevant visuals. The article states "revisions appeared to reduce cognitive processing for students in the low prior knowledge group, but increased cognitive processing for students in the middle prior knowledge group" (F(1, 15) = 9.74, p = .003). Both values are as the chapter prints them (checked against the ERIC full text, 2026-10-15), but they are inconsistent: F(1, 15) = 9.74 corresponds to p ≈ .007, not .003, so one of the two is likely a misprint.

"There was an interaction between condition and prior knowledge group for total fixation duration on the math-relevant visuals, F(2, 51) = 6.57, p = .002 (see Figure 7). Participants in the low prior knowledge group had longer total fixation duration on the math-relevant visuals in the original condition than in the revised condition, F(1, 21) = 6.43, p = .01."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Prior Knowledge — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it
• Visual Processing — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Instructional guidance that helps novices can become redundant or counterproductive as expertise grows. — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• In one eye-tracking experiment, revising math-relevant visuals changes fixation length on them differently by prior knowledge group, with shorter fixations under the revised visuals for low prior knowledge students — related
• Revised visuals reduce cognitive load while reading lesson text for low prior knowledge students but increase it for middle prior knowledge students — related
• Revised visuals reduce cognitive processing of lesson text for low prior knowledge students but increase it for middle prior knowledge students — related
• Revisions to visuals had no effect on post-lesson test scores, though prior knowledge predicted performance — related