Adding seductive details to multimedia instruction significantly worsens recall of pertinent content compared with instruction without seductive details¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr3·q3·i2medium
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · 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 Participants learning without seductive details recalled more pertinent content than participants learning with unprompted seductive details. → Kienitz 2023
Evidence¶
Kienitz 2023¶
Kienitz, A., Krebs, M.-C., & Eitel, A. (2023). Seductive details hamper learning even when they do not disrupt. Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-023-09632-w
q3 · i2 · causal · r3
Online experiment with N = 248 randomly assigned to four conditions; ANCOVA comparing control (n = 60) vs. no-prompt (n = 58) on recall showed "a significant difference for recall, F(1,112) = 16.430, p < .001, ηp2 = 0.074". The control group "significantly outperformed participants in the no-prompt condition".
"For recall, participants in the control group significantly outperformed participants in the no-prompt condition, revealing a seductive details effect (see Fig. 2)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- An irrelevance prompt eliminates the recall cost of seductive details, supporting the diversion explanation — related
- In Study 2 with a longer text and five SD amounts, greater seductive detail amount again worsened recall (b = −0.33, p = .005) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
- A separation prompt does not improve learning with seductive details, and higher integration avoidance predicts worse transfer, disfavouring the disruption explanation — related
- In Study 1, a greater seductive detail amount linearly worsened recall performance (b = −0.11, p = .030) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
- Interesting but irrelevant details can impair comprehension and transfer, with effects that vary with the material and the learner — a broader claim this one bears on
- Coherence Principle Irrelevant Material Hurts Learning — related
- Low-WMC readers recall fewer correct causes when text contains seductive illustrations compared with nonillustrated text — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
seductive-details-worsen-recall-versus-control |
title |
Adding seductive details to multimedia instruction significantly worsens recall of pertinent content compared with instruction without seductive details |
description |
Adding seductive details to multimedia instruction significantly worsens recall of pertinent content compared with instruction without seductive details |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2023 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-16 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — kienitz-2023 |
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