{
  "title": "Academic evidence on signalling and visual cueing in multimedia instruction",
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-26",
  "scope": "Six outcome-specific findings from three peer-reviewed meta-analyses. Syntheses may overlap; no new pooled estimate, private records or SaaS revenue measurements.",
  "reuseNote": "Cite original authors, preserve estimator and outcome, and retain original study years. This is an attributed reference sheet, not a participant dataset or systematic review by DemoBro.",
  "sources": {
    "schneider-2018": {
      "publisher": "Elsevier",
      "authors": [
        "Schneider, S.",
        "Beege, M.",
        "Nebel, S.",
        "Rey, G. D."
      ],
      "title": "A meta-analysis of how signaling affects learning with media",
      "reportYear": 2018,
      "observationPeriod": "Earlier media-learning studies; not 2026 experiments",
      "venue": "Educational Research Review, 23, 1–24",
      "doi": "10.1016/j.edurev.2017.11.001",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2017.11.001",
      "accessUrl": "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X17300581",
      "methodology": "Peer-reviewed meta-analysis. Public publisher abstract reports 103 studies and 12,201 participants, with 139 retention and 70 transfer measures. Abstract-only verification; full-text methods and all bias domains were not independently audited. The reported pooled g+ estimates are standardised effects, not percentages."
    },
    "richter-2016": {
      "publisher": "Elsevier",
      "authors": [
        "Richter, J.",
        "Scheiter, K.",
        "Eitel, A."
      ],
      "title": "Signaling text-picture relations in multimedia learning: A comprehensive meta-analysis",
      "reportYear": 2016,
      "observationPeriod": "Studies synthesised before the 2016 publication",
      "venue": "Educational Research Review, 17, 19–36",
      "doi": "10.1016/j.edurev.2015.12.003",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2015.12.003",
      "accessUrl": "https://www.psycharchives.org/en/item/7bf33e3f-9355-4fc8-90cd-6618021338ac",
      "methodology": "Peer-reviewed meta-analysis of 27 studies, 45 pairwise comparisons and 2,464 participants. Numerical verification uses the public publisher abstract and author-deposited repository record, not an independent full-text review. Transfer/comprehension is reported on an r scale. The archive deposit dates from 2019; the paper dates from 2016."
    },
    "xie-2017": {
      "publisher": "PLOS",
      "authors": [
        "Xie, H.",
        "Wang, F.",
        "Hao, Y.",
        "Chen, J.",
        "An, J.",
        "Wang, Y.",
        "Liu, H."
      ],
      "title": "The more total cognitive load is reduced by cues, the better retention and transfer of multimedia learning: A meta-analysis and two meta-regression analyses",
      "reportYear": 2017,
      "observationPeriod": "Literature search January 1995–March 2016; paper published August 30, 2017",
      "venue": "PLOS ONE, 12(8), e0183884",
      "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0183884",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0183884",
      "accessUrl": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0183884",
      "methodology": "Peer-reviewed random-effects meta-analysis and meta-regressions, verified in the open publisher full text (Abstract, Methods and Results/Table 2). Outcome-specific totals: subjective load 32 articles/3,597 participants; retention 25/2,910; transfer 29/3,204. Underlying articles include dissertations and a conference contribution. Counts overlap and cannot be added. Load is self-reported; d uses the authors’ sign convention."
    }
  },
  "statistics": [
    {
      "id": "signaling-retention",
      "value": 0.53,
      "displayValue": "g+ = 0.53",
      "unit": "reported pooled g+",
      "audience": "Media-learning retention tests; 139 outcome measures",
      "metric": "Retention effect of signalling",
      "sourceId": "schneider-2018",
      "locator": "Public abstract; 95% CI [0.42, 0.64]"
    },
    {
      "id": "signaling-transfer",
      "value": 0.33,
      "displayValue": "g+ = 0.33",
      "unit": "reported pooled g+",
      "audience": "Media-learning transfer tests; 70 outcome measures",
      "metric": "Transfer effect of signalling",
      "sourceId": "schneider-2018",
      "locator": "Public abstract; 95% CI [0.22, 0.43]"
    },
    {
      "id": "text-picture-comprehension",
      "value": 0.17,
      "displayValue": "r = 0.17",
      "unit": "reported r-scale effect",
      "audience": "Transfer/comprehension; 27 studies, 45 comparisons, 2,464 participants",
      "metric": "Effect of cues connecting text and pictures",
      "sourceId": "richter-2016",
      "locator": "Public abstract and author repository description; 95% CI [0.11, 0.22]"
    },
    {
      "id": "cueing-subjective-load",
      "value": -0.11,
      "displayValue": "d = −0.11",
      "unit": "Cohen d",
      "audience": "Subjective load ratings; 32 articles, 3,597 participants",
      "metric": "Difference in self-reported cognitive load",
      "sourceId": "xie-2017",
      "locator": "Abstract; Results, Effects of cueing on SCL and learning outcomes; Table 2; 95% CI [−0.19, −0.02]"
    },
    {
      "id": "cueing-retention",
      "value": 0.27,
      "displayValue": "d = 0.27",
      "unit": "Cohen d",
      "audience": "Retention tests; 25 articles, 2,910 participants",
      "metric": "Retention effect in the load-measuring subset",
      "sourceId": "xie-2017",
      "locator": "Abstract and Table 2; 95% CI [0.08, 0.46]"
    },
    {
      "id": "cueing-transfer",
      "value": 0.34,
      "displayValue": "d = 0.34",
      "unit": "Cohen d",
      "audience": "Transfer tests; 29 articles, 3,204 participants",
      "metric": "Transfer effect in the load-measuring subset",
      "sourceId": "xie-2017",
      "locator": "Abstract and Table 2; 95% CI [0.12, 0.56]"
    }
  ],
  "highlights": [
    "signaling-retention",
    "text-picture-comprehension",
    "cueing-subjective-load"
  ]
}