External cognition: how do graphical representations work?
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
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Knowledge acquisition processes benefit from presentations that depict related information - like diagrams and formulas - in an integrated way. In contrast, disconnecting interrelated information impairs learning. However, not every task is suitable for an integrated presentation. In the current study, 80 naive college students were presented with a troubleshooting task preventing an integrated presentation format. We compared performance in a split screen setup depicting two images side-by side with performance in a vexing-image setup. The latter enables the presentation of two images such that participants are able to switch between them without moving the visual focus. Compared to the split screen condition in which participants have to shift their visual focus frequently, troubleshooting performance of correctly identified malfunctioning mechanical devices was higher in the vexing image mode. Thus, not the separation of external representations but re-orientation processes after switching the visual focus seems to be responsible for split attention effects.