Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 29, 2026

Constructing and Visualizing Models using Mime-based Machine-learning Framework
Published on: July 22, 2025
Fostering understanding of multimedia messages through pre-training: evidence for a two-stage theory of mental model
Richard E Mayer1, Amanda Mathias, Karen Wetzell
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106-9660, USA. mayer@psych.ucsb.edu
Abstract:
Students received a narrated animation explaining the workings of a car's braking system (Experiments 1 and 2) or a bicycle tire pump (Experiment 3) and then took retention and transfer tests. Some students received pre-training concerning each of the components in the system before receiving the narrated animation (pre-training group), whereas others received no pre-training (no pre-training group) or--only in Experiment 3--training after the narrated animation (post-training group). The pre-training described or depicted the possible states of each part. Students in the pre-training group performed better than did students in other groups on tests of transfer (in all 3 experiments) and retention (in Experiments 1 and 2). Results are consistent with a 2-stage theory of mental model construction.
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