The modality learning effect proposes that learning is enhanced when information is presented in both the visual and the auditory domains (e.g. pictures and spoken information) compared with presenting information solely in the visual channel (e.g. pictures and written text). Most of the evidence for this effect comes from adults in a laboratory setting. Therefore, we tested the modality effect...

In space missions, during the long isolation at extreme conditions for human health, it is of paramount importance to monitor vital parameters. One such parameter is the breathing rate. Indeed, several factors can induce some breathing anomalies during the sleep, which may cause apnea episodes. In order to act timely with the right therapy, an early diagnosis is required. Conventional devices a...

Theories of embodied cognition (e.g., Perceptual Symbol Systems Theory; Barsalou, 1999, 2009) suggest that modality specific simulations underlie the representation of concepts. Supporting evidence comes from modality switch costs: participants are slower to verify a property in one modality (e.g., auditory, BLENDER-loud) after verifying a property in a different modality (e.g., gustatory, CRAN...

A current controversy in the area of implicit statistical learning (ISL) is whether this process consists of a single, central mechanism or multiple modality-specific ones. To provide insight into this question, the current study involved three ISL experiments to explore whether multimodal input sources are processed separately in each modality or are integrated together across modalities. In E...

The current study attempted to investigate the effect of Systemic-Theoretical Instruction (STI) on English-language learners’ acquisition of the concepts of modal verbs through exploiting metaphors. To this end, the effect of the main treatment of the study, i.e. Concept-Based Instruction (CBI) was investigated through conceptual metaphors, in two gender (male vs. female) ...

Previous studies showed that the sequential verification of different sensory modality properties for concepts (e.g., BLENDER-loud; BANANA-yellow) incurs a processing cost, known as the modality-switch effect (Pecher et al. 2003; 2004). We assessed the influence of the mode of presentation of stimuli on the modality-switch effect in a property verification priming paradigm. Participants were re...

The present experiment examined the effects of input/output modality pairings on dual-task performance using the psychological refractory period (PRP) procedure. Four groups of participants performed two tasks composed of the same sets of inputs (visual and auditory) and the same sets of outputs (manual and vocal), but with different input/output modality pairings. Whereas modality pairings had...

with regard to the relationship between the use of modality and readability levels oftexts, 2 opposing views have been raised. the first view endorses direct positiverelationship between modality and readability in the sense that the use of modalityincreases textual understandability. the second view is that the use of modality leadsto an increase in the number of words, resulting in readabilit...

Numerous studies in the field of multimedia learning have confirmed the modality principle, which claims that the presentation of pictures with auditory texts leads to better learning outcomes than the presentation of pictures with visual text. However, there are still some doubts concerning the theoretical explanation and the boundary conditions of the modality principle. An overview is given ...