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Emotional Design in Multimedia Learning

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Eunjoon “Rachel” Um
Eunjoon “Rachel” Um
Eunjoon “Rachel” Um
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Jan L. Plass at New York University
Jan L. Plass
Elizabeth O. Hayward at New York University
Elizabeth O. Hayward
Bruce D. Homer at CUNY Graduate Center
Bruce D. Homer
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Abstract

Can multimedia learning environments be designed to foster positive emotions that will improve learning and related affective outcomes? College students (N = 118) were randomly assigned to 4 conditions created by 2 factors related to learners' emotion: external mood induction (positive vs. neutral emotions) and emotional design induction (positive vs. neutral emotions). A computer-based lesson on the topic of immunization was used as multimedia learning material. Results indicate that applying emotional design principles to learning materials can induce positive emotions and that positive emotions in multimedia-based learning facilitate cognitive processes and learning. Controlling for the germane load of the materials, the internal induction of positive emotions through design of the materials increased comprehension and transfer, whereas the external induction of positive emotions through mood induction enhanced transfer but not comprehension. Positive emotions induced through mood induction significantly increased the amount of learners' reported mental effort, whereas positive emotional design reduced the perceived difficulty of the learning task. Positive emotions increased motivation, satisfaction, and perception toward the materials. Mediation analyses suggest that the effect of positive emotions induced externally was mediated by both motivation and mental effort but found no mediators for emotion induced via emotional design, suggesting that positive emotional design has a more direct impact on learning than externally induced emotions. The study suggests that emotions should be considered an important factor in the design of multimedia learning materials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Emotional Design in Multimedia Learning
Eunjoon “Rachel” Um, Jan L. Plass, and
Elizabeth O. Hayward
New York University
Bruce D. Homer
City University of New York
Can multimedia learning environments be designed to foster positive emotions that will improve
learning and related affective outcomes? College students (N⫽118) were randomly assigned to 4
conditions created by 2 factors related to learners’ emotion: external mood induction (positive vs.
neutral emotions) and emotional design induction (positive vs. neutral emotions). A computer-based
lesson on the topic of immunization was used as multimedia learning material. Results indicate that
applying emotional design principles to learning materials can induce positive emotions and that
positive emotions in multimedia-based learning facilitate cognitive processes and learning. Con-
trolling for the germane load of the materials, the internal induction of positive emotions through
design of the materials increased comprehension and transfer, whereas the external induction of
positive emotions through mood induction enhanced transfer but not comprehension. Positive
emotions induced through mood induction significantly increased the amount of learners’ reported
mental effort, whereas positive emotional design reduced the perceived difficulty of the learning
task. Positive emotions increased motivation, satisfaction, and perception toward the materials.
Mediation analyses suggest that the effect of positive emotions induced externally was mediated by
both motivation and mental effort but found no mediators for emotion induced via emotional design,
suggesting that positive emotional design has a more direct impact on learning than externally
induced emotions. The study suggests that emotions should be considered an important factor in the
design of multimedia learning materials.
Keywords: emotion, multimedia learning, cognitive load, motivation, instructional design
Can multimedia learning environments be designed to foster
positive emotions, and will such positive emotions improve learn-
ing and affective outcomes? In academic settings, learners expe-
rience a broad variety of emotions that are related to important
predictors of learning, such as motivation, learning strategies, and
self-regulation, as well as to academic achievement (Pekrun,
Goetz, Titz, & Perry, 2002). When it comes to educational expe-
riences, the question of how the design of the materials impacts
learners’ emotions, and how these emotions may affect learning
outcomes, has not received sufficient attention. In the present
study, we investigate whether multimedia learning environments
can be designed to induce positive emotions in learners and
whether these positive emotions enhance comprehension of the
content of the multimedia materials and facilitate the construction
of mental models that allow for the transfer of the new knowledge
to different situations.
Positive Academic Emotions
A common view of emotions is that they are generated by
people’s judgment about the world and initiated by an individual’s
appraisal in response to and interaction with a stimulus, such as the
material with which the individual is learning (Desmet, 2002;
Frijda, 1993; Lazarus, 1991; Oatley & Johnson-Laird, 1987;
Ortony, Glore, & Collins, 1988). Alternative models, such as core
affect, have also been proposed to describe a person’s emotional
life (Russell, 2003). This model is a response to research suggest-
ing that a distinction between emotion and mood may not be
meaningful and that affect, activation, and mood appear to de-
scribe the same phenomena (Yik, Russell, & Feldman Barrett,
1999). Russell’s (2003) model captures valence as well as arousal
in a two-dimensional system, with activation/deactivation as one
dimension and pleasure/displeasure as the other, orthogonal di-
mension. For the purpose of this article, we therefore use the terms
emotion and mood interchangeably, as our focus is on the general
valence of learners’ affect (positive–negative) and not on specific
emotions.
We are interested in emotions experienced during learning (i.e.,
academic emotions). Academic emotions describe affect directly
linked to learning, instruction, and academic achievement in for-
mal and informal settings (Goetz, Pekrun, Hall, & Haag, 2006;
Pekrun et al., 2002). Pekrun et al. discuss two dimensions of
emotions that impact performance, the valence of the emotion
(positive–negative) and activation (Pekrun, 1992; Russell, 2003).
Positive emotions can be activating (happy, hopeful) or deactivat-
ing (satisfied, calm). Likewise, negative emotions can be activat-
This article was published Online First December 19, 2011.
Eunjoon “Rachel” Um, Jan L. Plass, and Elizabeth O. Hayward,
CREATE Lab, New York University; Bruce D. Homer, PhD Program in
Educational Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New
York.
Eunjoon “Rachel” Um is now at The New York Times Company, New
York, NY.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jan L.
Plass, New York University, CREATE Lab/Games for Learning Institute,
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, 196
Mercer St., Room 804, New York, NY 10003. E-mail: jan.plass@nyu.edu
Journal of Educational Psychology © 2011 American Psychological Association
2012, Vol. 104, No. 2, 485–498 0022-0663/11/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0026609
485
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
... Further, these authors claimed that the emotional/motivational factors should be studied and applied to multimedia learning materials to trigger beneficial emotions for learning without bringing emotional overload. According to the facilitator's assumption, the instructional formats can evoke positive emotional responses and then lead to the stimulation of cognitive load, motivation, and learning (Um et al., 2012). Based on the extraneous load assumption, those desirable emotions can increase the load in a learner's working memory (Seibert & Ellis, 1991), however, inconsistent empirical results are provided by Um et al. (2012). ...
... According to the facilitator's assumption, the instructional formats can evoke positive emotional responses and then lead to the stimulation of cognitive load, motivation, and learning (Um et al., 2012). Based on the extraneous load assumption, those desirable emotions can increase the load in a learner's working memory (Seibert & Ellis, 1991), however, inconsistent empirical results are provided by Um et al. (2012). Also, it is pointed out that the research on the effects of PSI on learning motivation is not explicit and adequate (Beege et al., 2022), though some researchers try to directly focus on this relationship in educational videos (Beautemps & Bresges, 2022). ...
... Motivational interest can have an impact on extraneous cognitive load, which is in line with the assumption proposed by Um et al. (2012) in research on emotional factors in multimedia learning. Empirically, it is reported that the extraneous cognitive load is negatively correlated with situational interest, and it is reported that extraneous cognitive load declines with the increment of situational interest in online reading tasks (Drobisz, 2017). ...
The Effects of Social Cues in Self-Produced Micro Video Lectures on Parasocial Interaction, Motivational Interest, Extraneous Cognitive Load, and Concept Learning Performance: an Empirical Study in a Junior High School
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Background and Aim: Videos are popular in the dissemination of knowledge at scale, which can be seen in various video-based platforms and educational disruption. However, inconsistent results were reported in studies. This research is designed to determine the effectiveness of social cues in self-produced micro video lectures on parasocial interaction, motivational interest, extraneous cognitive load, and concept learning performance and the relationship among them. Materials and Methods: Self-produced videos for learning concepts of morality and the rule of law in junior high schools were used as the treatment. Tests were used to determine concept learning performance and Likert scales were utilized to collect information on the other three variables. 248 students from the eighth grade in a public school were involved in the sample. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze differences among groups, and path analysis as well as was adopted to determine the relationship between variables. Results: There was no significant difference among the four groups on each variable. Parasocial interaction has a significant positive impact on motivational interest, motivational interest has a negative significant impact on extraneous cognitive load, and extraneous cognitive load has a negative significant impact on concept learning performance. Conclusion: The effects of the increment of types of social cues can be ignored in 6-minute self-produced video lectures. Students’ parasocial interaction can influence concept learning performance via the mediation of the cognition process and motivational factors. The extraneous cognitive load decreases with the stimulation of the motivational interest.
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... The second issue addressed in the present work is how motivation is interrelated with affective dynamics during learning. Previous research revealed that emotional design elements (such as characters in task illustrations exhibiting facial expressions, or appealing colors or graphical elements) can improve learning [17], [18], [19], [20], showing that emotional design features can be comparably effective in facilitating learning as instructional features based on purely cognitive principles of multimedia learning [21]. By aiming at generating positive emotional responses [22], emotional design features link the respective learning tasks inevitably to motivation. ...
... The conditions were similar regarding gender distribution, p > 0.999, and regarding counts of student and non-student participants, p = 0.488. In the non-game condition, the participants' age ranged from 18 1)), and (c) correct responses at each task level for the more gameful (yellow) and less gameful (grey/black) task versions. Error bars represent 95% -confidence intervals of trimmed means computed via a bootstrap-t method. ...
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... Above all, positive and activating emotions are expected to, for example, strengthen self-efficacy and thus increase motivation (Pekrun et al., 2002). Several studies have found that participants who were put in a positive mood before a learning unit by reading and pronouncing positive sentences or watching videos made more effort and performed better in learning tests than those who were put in a neutral mood (Efklides et al., 2006;Park et al., 2015;Plass et al., 2014;Um et al., 2012). In line with this, studies on emotional design indicate that a positive emotional design of the learning material itself, through the use of warm colors and round or anthropomorphic shapes, increases positive affect, intrinsic motivation, and learning performance (Brom et al., 2018;Plass et al., 2014;Wong & Adesope, 2021). ...
... In the absence of cognitive conflict or dissonance aroused by valenced SDs, research on valenced SDs and emotional states would have rather suggested conducive than detrimental effects of positively valenced SDspositive SDs are expected to induce positive mood states which in turn could improve learning performance as they possibly increase selfefficacy or enjoyment and thus intrinsic motivation (e.g. Pekrun et al., 2002;Schneider et al., 2018;Um et al., 2012). However, this was not the case in the present studies. ...
The effects of counterattitudinal seductive details on learning
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  • LEARN INDIVID DIFFER
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... In contrast, the lack of sustained interest in Slides 1 and 2, which had more plain designs, contradicts the findings of Um et al. (2012), who suggested that even minimal aesthetic enhancements could positively affect student engagement. This discrepancy may be due to the specific context of our study, where students were exposed to highly similar content across slides, potentially diminishing the impact of minor design changes. ...
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... In summary, affective variables are closely related to cognitive learning outcomes, underscoring the importance of educational video design in shaping learner emotional responses (Moreno & Mayer, 2007;Um et al., 2012). Further investigations are required to comprehend how learners' responses to on-screen instructors vary in diverse contexts. ...
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Emotional mood states and retrieval in episodic memory.
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INTRODUCTION The previous chapter outlined the general features of human cognitive architecture relevant to learning. According to this architecture, our schematic knowledge base in long-term memory represents the major critical factor influencing the way we learn new information. In the absence of a relevant knowledge base for a specific situation or task, we apply random search processes to select appropriate actions. Any modifications to our knowledge base for dealing with novel situations occur only under certain restrictive conditions on the amount of such change. Based on these general characteristics of learning within a cognitive load framework, it is possible to formulate general instructional principles that support processes of schema acquisition and enable understanding and learning. This chapter suggests a number of such Cognitive Load Theory (CLT)–generated principles for efficient instruction aimed at acquisition of an organized knowledge base: a direct initial instruction principle, an expertise principle, and a small step-size of change principle. To substantiate these principles, it is necessary first to describe in more detail the concept of schematic knowledge structures and analyze sources of cognitive load that are irrelevant to learning processes. LEARNING AS SCHEMA ACQUISITION Schemas represent knowledge as stable patterns of relationships between elements describing some classes of structures that are abstracted from specific instances and used to categorize such instances. Multiple schemas can be linked together and organized into hierarchical structures.
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Incorporating learner experience into the design of multimedia instruction.
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In Experiment 1, inexperienced trade apprentices were presented with one of four alternative instructional designs: a diagram with visual text, a diagram with auditory text, a diagram with both visual and auditory text, or the diagram only. An auditory presentation of text proved superior to a visual-only presentation but not when the text was presented in both auditory and visual forms. The diagram-only format was the least intelligible to inexperienced learners. When participants became more experienced in the domain after two specifically designed training sessions, the advantage of a visual diagram-auditory text format disappeared. In Experiment 2, the diagram-only group was compared with the audio-text group after an additional training session. The results were the reverse of those of Experiment 1: The diagram-only group outperformed the audio–text group. Suggestions are made for multimedia instruction that takes learner experience into consideration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The Cognitive Structure of Emotions
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1. Introduction The study of emotion Types of evidence for theories of emotion Some goals for a cognitive theory of emotion 2. Structure of the theory The organisation of emotion types Basic emotions Some implications of the emotions-as-valenced-reactions claim 3. The cognitive psychology of appraisal The appraisal structure Central intensity variables 4. The intensity of emotions Global variables Local variables Variable-values, variable-weights, and emotion thresholds 5. Reactions to events: I. The well-being emotions Loss emotions and fine-grained analyses The fortunes-of-others emotions Self-pity and related states 6. Reactions to events: II. The prospect-based emotions Shock and pleasant surprise Some interrelationships between prospect-based emotions Suspense, resignation, hopelessness, and other related states 7. Reactions to agents The attribution emotions Gratitude, anger, and some other compound emotions 8. Reactions to objects The attraction emotions Fine-grained analyses and emotion sequences 9. The boundaries of the theory Emotion words and cross-cultural issues Emotion experiences and unconscious emotions Coping and the function of emotions Computational tractability.
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