Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

There is a rising interest in determining the most effective (i.e., the most conducive for learning) way to present onlinelecture information. The cognitive load model of multimedia learning suggests that learners are capacity limited. Lecturegraphics that are interesting but extraneous to the content (e.g., a celebrity), have been shown to impair comprehension ofthe material (i.e., the seductive detail effect). The seductive detail effect likely results from a lack of cognitive resourcesavailable to maintain attention. Across 2 experiments, the use of graphics was manipulated in a psychology online videolecture. We demonstrate no differences across conditions (i.e., no images, relevant images, and seductive images) in overallcomprehension and limited differences mind wandering behaviour.