Seductive Details in Learning Text—Less Harmful if They Are Grouped Together Instead of Interspersed?

Abstract

This study examined if the number of interruptions caused by interesting side notes in learning text is critical for the detrimental effect that is generally found when such seductive details are included, and consequently, if this effect can be mitigated by grouping these details together instead of interspersing them. Results confirmed that extraneous cognitive load was increased and transfer performance impaired in conditions with seductive details. However, no significant differences were found between the grouped condition with five seductive details placed directly one after another (one interruption), and the interspersed condition with five seductive details placed at different positions (several interruptions). It is recommended to avoid interesting digressions in teaching, regardless of whether they are spread across the learning material or grouped together in one place. The extent of the seductive detail effect might rather depend on the amount of seductive details presented than the number of interruptions caused.