Ds. Wallace et al., THE EFFECT OF KNOWLEDGE MAPS THAT INCORPORATE GESTALT PRINCIPLES ON LEARNING, The Journal of experimental education, 67(1), 1998, pp. 5-16
Knowledge maps have been found to be an effective communication tool f
or organizing information so that it can be recalled later. It was pre
dicted that adding gestalt principles of similarity (using colors and
shapes) and proximity (using groupings) would complement the informati
on-organization feature of knowledge maps and thereby enhance recall.
The students were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 study formats (text, une
nhanced maps, and enhanced maps) and were asked to study the informati
on in them. Following a distraction task, the students completed a fre
e recall task. Returning 2 weeks later, the students again engaged in
free recall. The students remembered more during immediate than during
delayed recall, and the students who had studied enhanced maps recall
ed more information than the students who had studied unenhanced maps
or text. The results suggest that the use of color, shape, and proximi
ty facilitated learning by improving the organization of information.