biology

Visual learning

Visual learning is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Visual learning rather than just read about it. In short: Visual learning is one of the learning styles in which information is primarily received and understood by a learner when presented in a visual format. Visual learners can utilize graphs, charts, maps, diagrams, and other forms of visual stimulation to effectively interpret information.

Key takeaways

Visual learning belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Visual learning to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Visual learning from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Visual learning is one of the learning styles in which information is primarily received and understood by a learner when presented in a visual format. Visual learners can utilize graphs, charts, maps, diagrams, and other forms of visual stimulation to effectively interpret information. It is best to treat a learning style as a matter of individual preference, rather than an educational need. Students generally learn best from mixed modality presentations, such as combining a spoken lecture (using an auditory learning style) with a visual aid (using a visual learning style). Visual learning is included in Neil Fleming's DIVANO model and the Fleming VARK mode.

Techniques

A review study concluded that using graphic organizers improves student performance in the following areas:

Retention Students remember information better and can better recall it when it is represented and learned both visually and verbally. Reading comprehension The use of graphic organizers helps improve reading comprehension of students. Student achievement Students with and without learning disabilities improve performance across content areas and grade levels. Thinking and learning skills; critical thinking When students develop and use a graphic organizer their higher order thinking and critical thinking skills are enhanced.

Areas of the brain affected Various areas of the brain work together in many ways to produce the images that we see with our eyes and encoded by our brains. The basis of this work takes place in the visual cortex of the brain. The visual cortex is located in the occipital lobe of the brain and harbors many other structures that aid in visual recognition, categorization, and learning. One of the first things the brain must do when acquiring new visual information is to recognize it. Brain areas involved in recognition are the inferior temporal cortex, the superior parietal cortex, and the cerebellum. During recognition tasks, activation increases in the left inferior temporal cortex, and decreases in the right superior parietal cortex. Recognition is aided by neural plasticity, or the brain's ability to reshape itself based on new information. Next the brain must categorize the material using the three main areas that are used when categorizing new visual information: the orbitofrontal cortex and two dorsolateral prefrontal regions which begin the process of sorting new information into groups and further assimilating that information into things that you might already know. After recognizing and categorizing new material entered into the visual field, the brain is ready to begin the encoding process – the process that leads to learning. Multiple brain areas are involved in this process such as the frontal lobe, the right extrastriate cortex, the neocortex, and again, the neostriatum. One area in particular, the limbic-diencephalic region, is essential for transforming perceptions into memories. With the coming together of tasks of recognition, categorization, and learning; schemas help make the process of encoding new information and relating it to things you already know much easier. One can remember visual images much better when applying them to an already-known schema. Schemas provide enhancement of visual memory and learning.

Infancy

Where it starts Between the fetal stage and 18 months, a baby experiences rapid growth of a substance called gray matter. Gray matter is the darker tissue of the brain and spinal cord, consisting mainly of nerve cell bodies and branching dendrites. It is responsible for processing sensory information in the brain such as areas like the primary visual cortex. The primary visual cortex is located within the occipital lobe in the back of infant's brain and is responsible for processing visual information such as static or moving objects and pattern recognition.

The four pathways Within the primary visual cortex, there are four pathways: the superior colliculus pathway (SC pathway), the middle temporal area pathway (MT pathway), the frontal eye fields pathway (FEF pathway), and the inhibitory pathway. Each pathway is crucial to the development of visual attention in the first few months of life. The SC pathway is responsible for the generation of eye movements toward simple stimuli. It receives information from the retina and the visual cortex and can direct behavior toward an object. The MT pathway is involved in the smooth tracking of objects and travels between the SC pathway and the primary visual cortex. In conjunction with the SC pathway and the MT pathway, the FEF pathway allows the infant to control eye movements as well as visual attention. It also plays a part in sensory processing in the infant. Lastly, the inhibitory pathway regulates the activity in the superior colliculus and is later responsible for obligatory attention in the infant. The maturation and functionality of these pathways depends on how well the infant can make distinctions as well as focus on stimuli.

Supporting studies A study by Haith, Hazan, & Goodman in 1988 showed that babies as young as 3.5 months are able to create short-term expectations of situations they confront. Expectations in this study refer to the cognitive and perceptual ways in which an infant can forecast a future event. This was tested by showing the infant either a predictable pattern of slides or an irregular pattern of slides and tracking the infant's eye movements. A later study by Johnson, Posner, & Rothbart in 1991 showed that by 4 months, infants can develop expectations. This was tested through anticipatory looks and disengagement with stimuli. For example, anticipatory looks portray the infant as being able to predict the next part of a pattern which can then be applied to the real world scenario of breast-feeding. Infants are able to predict a mother's movements and expect feeding so they can latch onto the nipple for feeding. Expectations, anticipatory looks, and disengagement all show that infants can learn visually, even if it is only short term. David Roberts (2016) tested multimedia learning propositions, he found that using certain images dislocates pedagogically harmful excesses of text, reducing cognitive overloading and exploiting under-used visual processing capacities

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Visual learning

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Visual learning claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Visual learning before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Visual learning ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Visual learning

In research: Visual learning appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Visual learning in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Visual learning is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Infographics, Information technology management, Learning methods, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Visual learning outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Visual learning in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Visual learning means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Visual learning out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Visual learning in simple terms?

Why does Visual learning matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Visual learning?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Visual learning.