Learning Theories

The signaling effect presents the increase in learning outcomes due to promotion of attention to relevant information. Signals are based on natural attention attractors like movement or contrast. In multimedia this can also be achieved through various methods like¹⁾:

• bold text, italic text, coloring,
• arrows →, enumeration, underlining,
• summaries or overviews.

A recent research has again confirmed and attempted to explain the signaling effect using recorded eye movements data of the experiment participants. As they concluded,

• “Eye movement data shows that signaling guided attention to relevant information and improved the efficiency and effectiveness of finding necessary information.”²⁾