| When interesting irrelevant adjuncts, known as seductive details, are included in a passage, readers are less able to recall structurally important information and are less able to solve problems based on the main ideas in the passage as compared with readers who read the same passage without seductive details. This phenomenon is known as the seductive details effect. To investigate how seductive details interfere with learning a series of four experiments was conducted in which college students read a scientific explanation about the formation of lightning that either contained or did not contain seductive details. The seductive details effect was replicated in each of the 4 experiments. Students who read passages containing seductive details recalled significantly fewer main ideas and generated significantly fewer transfer solutions than students who read the passage with no seductive details. In Experiment 1, students read passages with or without seductive details, and with or without typographical highlighting of the main ideas. Highlighting the main ideas did not reduce the seductive details effect for either the retention of main ideas or for problem-solving performance. In Experiment 2, students read passages with or without seductive details, and with or without a statement of learning objectives prior to reading the passage. Providing learning objectives did not reduce the seductive details effect for retention of main ideas or for problem-solving performance. In Experiment 3, students read passages with or without seductive details, and with or without organizational signaling. Signaling the main ideas in the passage did nd reduce the seductive details effect for retention or for problem-solving performance. In Experiment 4, the placement of the seductive details was varied, such that they were presented before the passage, after the passage, or they were interspersed within the passage. A control group read a passage with no seductive details. Early placement of the seductive details resulted in relatively poor recall and transfer performance, whereas late placement resulted in relatively good recall and transfer performance. Taken together, these results are inconsistent with the distraction hypothesis, i.e., that seductive details distract readers' selection processes, and are inconsistent with the disruption hypothesis, i.e., that seductive details disrupt the coherence of the passage. These results are consistent with the diversion hypothesis, i.e., that seductive details prime an inappropriate context for the reading, by confusing readers as to what a passage is about. |
