Seductive details and attention distraction - An eye tracker experiment

The seductive detail principle asserts that people learn more deeply from a multimedia presentation when interesting but unimportant adjuncts are excluded. The recent eye tracker experiment attempts to expand this principle for learning contexts containing no time limits and examines the moderating effect of attention control. Students (N = 55) received an illustrated introduction to factor analysis and then took a retention and transfer test. Each learner was randomly assigned to one cell of a 2 (with or without seductive text passages) × 2 (with or without seductive illustrations) between subjects factorial design. Students who did not receive seductive text passages or seductive illustrations performed better on transfer, but not on retention than did learners receiving these details. The lower the learner attention control (measured with an anti-saccadic test), the more harmful were seductive text passages on transfer. Eye movements indicate that seductive text passages and illustrations might impede transfer differently.