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TopMultimedia learning involves using visual and auditory stimuli to convey information to learners. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in understanding the cognitive processes involved in multimedia learning. Several empirical studies have investigated how the young brain processes information presented in different multimedia formats, such as videos, animations, and interactive simulations. Some of these studies have examined the effects of multimedia on attention, working memory, and comprehension. For example, Moreno and Mayer (2007) investigated the effect of multimedia on attention and comprehension in college students. The researchers found that students who received multimedia instruction showed greater attention and comprehension compared to those who received text-only instruction. Another study by Mayer, Heiser, and Lonn (2001) examined the effect of multimedia on working memory, revealing that multimedia instruction resulted in better performance on tasks that required working memory.
Sharing picture storybooks with young children is crucial for developing literacy skills. Many children’s storybooks are illustrated via visual and/or oral narratives. When children read or listen to a story, both visual (pictorial) and auditory (verbal) processing channels are employed. Several cognitive theories and models have been proposed and further adopted by educators and modern researchers in empirical studies to understand the cognitive processes underlying a child’s story comprehension and multimedia learning. According to Paivio’s (1986) Dual Channel Model, humans possess two channels to process visual and auditory information. The first is the verbal channel, which processes spoken words heard through the ears; the other is the visual channel, which processes images seen through the eyes (Paivio, 2007). Each channel processes and stores information differently, with the visual channel being specialised in processing and storing visual information and the verbal channel being specialised in processing and storing verbal information. The Dual Channel Model suggests that multimedia learning is most effective when it utilises both channels, as this creates a stronger memory trace and facilitates better comprehension of the information. This idea is particularly relevant when considering multimedia learning in young children, as the use of both visual and verbal information can help them better understand and retain the information being presented.
The cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML; Mayer, 2001) further explains how children process information when reading or hearing a story via multimedia. That is, the information in both visual and verbal form contributes to the comprehension of the story and increases the learner’s visual attention. CTML proposes a model that comprises three memory stores: sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory (see Figure 1). In working memory, the auditory information is organised to construct a verbal model; meanwhile, the images will be processed to create pictorial coding to build a visual model. When these two processes occur concurrently, integrating the auditory and visual channels will increase the efficiency of the information processing. This effect, in turn, facilitates the comprehension of the learners (Sorden, 2013).
Figure 1. Mayer’s (2001) cognitive theory of multimedia learning