Colorful Images in Textbooks Could Distract Children: Study

A latest study reveals that colorful images in textbooks can be distracting to some children and make it difficult for them to concentrate.

The research studied children  aged between 6 and 8 years. They found that children learn to read simple bar graphs properly when they are in a single color. These children were also shown bar graphs with different colors and pictures of animals and flowers on them. They found that it took longer for them to learn from these. Instead the children started counting the flowers and pictures, which did not match the bar graph numbers.

"Graphs with pictures may be more visually appealing and engaging to children than those without pictures. However, engagement in the task does not guarantee that children are focusing their attention on the information and procedures they need to learn. Instead, they may be focusing on superficial features," said Jennifer Kaminski, co-author of the study and research scientist in psychology at the Ohio State University.

Around 16 elementary school teachers were asked whether they would use the multi colored bar graphs to teach children. All of them said they would because according to them it helps children learn easily.

"When designing instructional material, we need to consider children's developing ability to focus their attention and make sure that the material helps them focus on the right things," Kaminski said. "Any unnecessary visual information may distract children from the very procedures we want them to learn."

For the study, 122 kindergarten students participated. These children were showed graphs on a computer and were trained how to read the graphs.