Professionals who use multimedia documents as a tool to communicate concepts will find this a hugely illuminating text. It provides a comprehensive and up to date account of relevant research issues, methodologies and results in the area of multimedia comprehension. More specifically, the book draws connections between cognitive research, instructional strategies and design methodologies. It includes theoretical reviews, discussions of research techniques, ad original experimental contributions. The book highlights essential aspects of current theories, and trends for future research on the use of multimedia documents.

Understanding Multimedia Documents: An Introduction.- Understanding Multimedia Documents: An Introduction.- Memory Processes in Multimedia Comprehension.- Why Multimedia Learning is not Always Helpful.- Text and Picture Integration in Comprehending and Memorizing Spatial Descriptions.- Display of Key Pictures from Animation: Effects on Learning.- Levels of Verbal Redundancy, Note-Taking and Multimedia Learning.- Learning from a Multimedia Explanation: A Comparison of Static Pictures and Animation.- Contextual Strategies in Document-Based Learning.- Search and Comprehension Processes in Learning from Text.- Searching User-Controllable Animations During Learning.- Studying Eye Movements in Multimedia Learning.- The Interaction of Verbal and Pictorial Information in Comprehension and Memory.- Multimedia Research in Perspective.- Hypertext Was Born Around 1200.- From Film and Television to Multimedia Cognitive Effects.- How Should We Evaluate Multimedia Learning Environments?.- Memory Processes in Text and Multimedia Comprehension: Some Reflections and Perspectives.