The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning

The principle known as the “multimedia principle” states that “people learn more deeply from words and pictures than from words alone” (p. 47).  Nevertheless using pictures wirh words is not an effective way for multimedia principle.  Aim of this principle is doing  instructional media about how human mind works.  This theory can be categorized into three main assumptions when it comes to learning with multimedia:

1. There are two separate channels (auditory and visual) for processing information (sometimes referred to as Dual-Coding theory);
2. Each channel has a limited (finite) capacity (similar to Sweller’s notion of Cognitive Load);
3. Learning is an active process of filtering, selecting, organizing, and integrating information based upon prior knowledge.

''Humans can only process a finite amount of information in a channel at a time, and they make sense of incoming information by actively creating mental representations. Mayer handle the role of three memory stores: sensory (which receives stimuli and stores it for a very short time), working (where we actively process information to create mental constructs (or ‘schema’), and long-term (the repository of all things learned).  Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning presents the idea that the brain does not interpret a multimedia presentation of words, pictures, and auditory information in a mutually exclusive fashion; rather, these elements are selected and organized dynamically to produce logical mental constructs. ''

                                                                                                     Richard Mayer’s book: Multimedia Learning