The verbal facilitation effect in learning to tie nautical knots

Motor skills are often demonstrated with a combination of verbal information and video demonstration. In this study, participants learned to tie nautical knots with a video clip demonstrating the motor task preceded by a descriptive or a metaphorical, picture-like verbalization. In a control condition participants learned the knots with a video demonstration only. We expected the verbalization to guide participants’ attention while watching the video demonstration. Thus, we hypothesized higher performance in the verbalization-conditions compared to the control condition (general verbal facilitation effect). Further, as the metaphorical verbalizations provide mental cues (e.g., rhymes) we expected higher performance in the metaphorical verbalization-condition than in the descriptive verbalization-condition (specific verbal facilitation effect). Behavioral measures immediately after learning and two days after initial learning showed a general and a specific verbal facilitation effect. We discuss these results with respect to recent findings in multimedia research.

► Participants learned tying nautical knots with a combination of a video clip and an accompanying verbal description. ► Compared to a condition without verbal description, learning is more efficient with verbal descriptions. ► Metaphorical verbal descriptions outperform verbal descriptions focusing on procedural details. ► Both immediate testing and delayed recall benefit from the use of verbal descriptions.