Individual cognitive style and performance in a multimedia learning application

This paper describes an investigation into the relationship between a user’s cognitive style and their performance on a multimedia application. The application was designed to present information in users’ preferred and non-preferred cognitive style. The investigation looked at the difference in performance between Verbalisers, Bimodals and Imagers in areas of the application that presented information either as text and narrative or as a succession of images. Initially no significant difference was found between users in supported and non-supported areas of the application, although the differences were approaching significance (p=0.067). When Bimodals were excluded from the study, a significant difference was found (p<0.01). Verbalisers and imagers were also found to be more likely to select a presentation in a matched cognitive style and the potential for the individual configuration of multimedia.