Seductive Details Behind Hyperlinks—Harmful or Helpful for Learning?

Abstract

Background

According to the seductive-details effect, practitioners should avoid interesting but irrelevant adjuncts (e.g., fun facts, comics) in learning materials as they might increase extraneous cognitive load and thus hamper learning. As the digitalisation of learning continues to increase, the question arises as to whether this recommendation also applies to interesting but irrelevant hyperlinks that are often included in online materials.

Objectives

We investigated whether students perceive and use seductive details that appear behind hyperlinks differently compared to seductive details that are integrated in the learning material directly on the screen. We were assuming that students would (a) perceive hyperlink seductive details as less relevant than integrated seductive details and thus not be negatively affected in their cognitive processing (i.e., informed use of seductive details) and (b) use hyperlink seductive details to take a small break or for gratification, thereby supporting them in their persistent online learning (i.e., needs-oriented use of seductive details).

Methods

In a 3 × 2-between-subjects study, participants (N = 165) worked online on a learning unit about chemistry models without seductive details or with them, either with explicit information about their irrelevance for the learning goal or without such explicit information. Moreover, we presented the details integrated in the learning material or as mouse-over hyperlinks.

Results and Conclusion

Although students perceived hyperlink seductive details as less relevant than integrated details, their learning outcomes were still impaired when they did not receive an additional explicit irrelevance instruction. Hence, our study reveals no evidence that students use seductive details via hyperlinks differently from integrated ones, but instead that seductive details via hyperlinks should also be avoided.