Glossary · 5 · Multimedia and visual information
Coherence principle (multimedia learning)
Also known as: Coherence principle, Seductive details effect
German: Kohärenzprinzip
In the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, the coherence principle states that people learn better when extraneous words, pictures and sounds — interesting but irrelevant material such as decorative images, background music or entertaining side stories (seductive details) — are excluded rather than included.
- Applied cognitive psychology
- Multimedia and visual information
In one sentence
The coherence principle: people learn better when extraneous words, pictures and sounds are left out of instruction (Mayer).
Example
A setup video for a labeler opens with a 40-second brand animation and has background music. The revised video starts with the task and has no music; the narration and the machine sounds remain.
Rests on
- Extraneous cognitive load and Working memory: irrelevant material uses capacity needed for the essential content.
- Selective attention: seductive details draw attention away from the explanation and can prime the wrong schema (Harp and Mayer, 1998).
How it applies
- Instructions: No decorative images, stock photos or marketing text inside procedures; each figure shows what the step needs.
- Video and e-learning: No background music or entertaining side stories in instructional sequences.
- Software documentation: Release marketing belongs in release notes or product pages, not in the task topics.
Coherence vs. completeness
"Extraneous" means irrelevant to the reader's task or understanding. Required information is never extraneous: safety messages, prerequisites, warnings on residual risks and information the applicable law requires stay, even if they seem to interrupt the flow.
Limits
- Evidence is mostly from short science lessons with students; how interesting material affects motivation in longer use is less clear.
- The principle never justifies dropping required or safety-related information.