Learning and retrieval of numerical information from newspaper texts and data visualisations in congruent and incongruent conditions

Visualising numerical information in graphs to facilitate information processing from text has become a normal practice. To what extent is the congruency of graphical and textual information important? This study investigated how congruency between information presented in texts (real-life newspaper articles) and accompanying graphs affects memory and learning. The experiment was designed using three articles from the Czech newspaper Denik N that were modified to fit three different conditions: congruent (data in text and graph aligned), incongruent (data in text and graph differed), and graph-only (numerical data were removed from text). Participants read three articles and then were assessed for the information gained using multiple-choice tests. Findings suggest that under congruent conditions, retention of numerical data was facilitated, whereas under incongruent and graph-only conditions, the performance was impaired. This has practical implications for the usage of data visualisations in media and learning, as the usage of congruent information is important for information acquisition.