The Virtual Reality in Your Head: How Immersion and Mental Imagery Are Connected to Knowledge Retention

Immersive learning is predominantly constrained to technology-based interventions but has the potential for more diverse applications. This study reports on an experiment investigating the learning affordances of psychological immersion evoked by narrative absorption. A total of 228 participants were randomly assigned to one of three forms of media, an image, a word list, and a narrative, all of which contained identical items to be memorized for immediate and delayed free recall memory tests. Other variables measured were immersion, extraneous cognitive load, and mental imagery. ANOVA and correlation analyses showed that the narrative media was found to be significantly more immersive and that it evoked mental imagery in individuals at higher levels than both the list and image media. Importantly, there was more decay in memory recall between immediate and delayed tests for those exposed to the list and the image than for those who read the narrative. This implies the utility of immersive narratives for spontaneous mental image generation, which leads to improved knowledge retention. Other implications for immersive learning theory are discussed, and practical solutions for incorporating narrative immersion in learning are also suggested.