Defining Audio/Video Redundancy From a Limited- Capacity Information Processing Perspective

This article applies a limited-capacity information processing approach to the question of whether audio / video redundancy improves memory for television messages. Audio / video redundancy is defined as a continuum. Four different types of stimuli frequently used to operationalize redundancy are considered in terms of: (a) how much capacity they require to be fully processed; (b) how complex they are; and, (c) how much audio and video information they contain. Predictions based on these considerations are made about relative memory for each type of stimulus at three levels of processing (encoding, storage, and retrieval). The three major memory measures are conceptualized as providing information about different aspects of the information processing of a message. Specifically, recognition measures index how much information was encoded, cued recall indexes how much information has been stored, and free recall indexes the information available for retrieval. The predictions made using this theoretical approach are initially tested using the results previously reported in the literature. Over 75% of the reported results are in the direction predicted. It is suggested that talking head messages are different from other forms of audio / video redundancy, that audio memory is affected more by audio / video redundancy than video memory, and that video memory is affected more by complexity and amount of information—both of which are frequently confounded with redundancy.