5 Temporal Contiguity Principle

Last week we looked at the Spatial Contiguity Principle and we found that related words and pictures need to be  close together.  This week we look at the Temporal Contiguity Principle.

The Temporal Contiguity Principle tells us that students learn better when related words and pictures happen simultaneously.  So where last week we looked at getting words and pictures together physically, this week we look at getting words and pictures together in time.

Temporal Contiguity Principle – (1:17)

Again, we want the text to be shown at the same time as we see the graphic or animation.  Just like in the spatial contiguity principle, it might seem like giving the student more exposure to a topic (for example, giving them an audio lesson first, and then a visual lesson later), would seem like a good approach, but in reality this is not how people learn. 

We want words and pictures to enter working memory at the same time.  This allows easier integration of the information into working memory than presenting them separately, and takes advantage of how the mind works.

Let’s finish this section with Richard Mayer himself telling us about Temporal Contiguity:

Richard Mayer on Temporal Contiguity (0:50)

Next week we will look at Segmenting!!  Have a great weekend, and thanks for subscribing to the FLC!

Brannen, Katy. “Spatial and Temporal Contiguity Principle Dr Richard Mayer.” Spatial and Temporal Contiguity Principle Dr Richard Mayer, 27 Mar. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=34QW0lNL86s.

Maimone, David. “Temporal Contiguity.” YouTube, 19 May 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GeReuAr_Mk.

Mayer, R. (2014). The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, Second Edition. New York City: Cambridge University Press.