Modality effect: what it is and how it explains memorization

If we talk about the modality effect, it is very likely that few people know what we are referring to.. On the other hand, if we asked what is easier to remember, a paragraph of text or an image that someone is describing orally, it is quite likely that people will answer the second option.

The modality effect is a phenomenon that occurs when the information presented involves two types of stimulation pathways, influencing its ability to be remembered. This phenomenon has its importance in the educational field, an aspect that we are going to explain in this article.

• Related article: "Types of memory: how does the human brain store memories?"

Modality effect: what exactly is it?

In experimental psychology, the modality effect is a phenomenon that occurs when, Depending on how certain information is presented, it is better remembered. In essence, it consists of remembering information better when it is presented in the form of an image and, In turn, it is described orally, unlike if the same image is presented but accompanied by text written.

Normally this phenomenon occurs in situations in which certain content has to be learned, that is, This is a very recurrent effect in educational and student contexts.s.

For example, according to the model behind this effect, if a student is preparing for exams with pictures and saying out loud explanations of what she is reviewing or By simply saying what she is observing, she is more likely to remember more content during the exam than if she simply looks at those same images and mentally reads the text that they show. accompanies

Psychological models that explain it

One of the models that has been used to explain this phenomenon is that of Baddeley and Hitch's cognitive load theory. According to this theory, the modality effect would occur due to the characteristics of working memory. This type of memory, according to Baddeley's model, is made up of two systems that have a limited capacity: the phonological loop and the visuospatial agenda.

The phonological loop, according to Baddeley and Hitch's model, would be responsible for processing the information that is given auditorily. On the other hand, the visuospatial agenda is responsible for processing visual information, such as images, and spatial information, such as the location of a certain object.

This multicomponent model indicates that auditory and visuospatial information are processed separately in these two systems. Because of this, learning solely visuospatially (for example, reading or viewing images) is more likely to cause the system responsible for this type of information (the phonological loop) to overload.

On the other hand, if the information comes through two routes, visuospatial and auditory, both systems will approximately share the same cognitive load, which will mean that both systems are not so overwhelmed in capacity and that learning is more viable.

The modality effect would occur when one of the systems, because it is the only one making the effort during learning, does not have sufficient capacity to cope with the information that must be learned, compared to when it is given in such a way that it involves two systems.

• You may be interested: "Working (operational) memory: components and functions"

The classic effect

The classic modality effect has been observed by seeing how people were able to remember words that were presented either verbally or spoken. Regardless of whether the subject then had to remember the words in the same order as he had read or heard them, or whether he had to remember them randomly, the modality effect occurred.

The modality effect is closely related to two other memory-related effects. On the one hand, we have the recency effect, which is that the last words or last information in a set is more easily remembered than the previous one. The other effect, suffix effect, is that if an item with another modality occurs in a list of items, it is better remembered.

• You may be interested: "Educational psychology: definition, concepts and theories"

Its importance in the educational field

Once we have seen what this effect consists of and the models that try to explain it, a couple of notes can be made and related to the study.

Since information that is presented visually and auditorily simultaneously seems to be remembered more easily than that which is simply read or "learned" solely visually, it is worth mentioning some aspects that are useful in the field educational, in addition to making a couple of indications of how the content should be given in the classroom to strengthen learning significant.

First of all, The narrated explanation of a certain topic is almost more important than the images that can be presented of it; It is something that can be used to motivate teachers in their explanations. The oral explanation given by the teacher in class, as long as it is fluid and does not abuse the text written on slides or in the book, allows the information to be better assimilated in the minds of its students.

This is especially important in the university environment. Despite how elevated this type of education is, it is very common for teachers to limit themselves to reading slides or, even, when not time, tell the students to read X chapters of a book that, as a general rule, is usually really boring and not very digestible. This means that, if the university content is already difficult, its degree of difficulty is increased due to the boring nature of the entire educational process in this area.

Teachers should make an effort so that presentations are not slides full of text, but transform them into images conveniently related to the content that is being explained. Explaining them orally emphasizes what must be learned, in addition to allowing the students to remember the material given when the exam or even the day they have to work arrives.

Regarding the part that involves the students, it would not be bad if, once at home or in the library, they addressed the about the content that has been explained to them in the classroom, looking for documentaries related to what they should learn. Typically, this type of multimedia entertainment does not contain long paragraphs of boring text, but instead consists of videos and images that are accompanied by the voice of the narrator, an ideal strategy as we have seen throughout this article.

Other ways to ensure you acquire knowledge is to first transform the content of the book or source of information. that it be in a scheme and, orally, make an explanation of that same content to see if these have been acquired. contents.

Bibliographic references:

• Beaman, C. P., and Morton, J. (2000). The separate but related origins of the recency effect and the modality effect in free recall. Cognition 77, B59-B65.
• Conway, M. A., and Gathercole, S. AND. (1987). Modality and long-term memory. Journal of Memory and Language 26, 341-361.
• Gardiner, J. M. (1983). On recency and echoic memory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B302, 267-282.
• Glenberg, A. M., and Swanson, N. g. (1986). A temporal distinctiveness theory of recency and modality effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 12, 3-15.
• Kellogg, R. T. (2001). Presentation modality and mode of recall in verbal false memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 27, 913-919