Can we build it?

Abstract

Companies are slowly replacing paper instructions for instruction videos. A more cost efficient alternative than producing instruction videos in many different languages, is adding subtitles. Many studies on the effects of subtitles on comprehension have suggested that adding subtitles in combination with verbal audio could cause cognitive overload. In this research the influence of subtitles on the performance of following instructions to build a LEGO house was studied. Participants completed the construction of a LEGO house while watching either the subtitled or non-subtitled Spanish instruction video. The results showed that adding subtitles to an instruction video significantly enhanced the performance of mimicking the task displayed in the video. Furthermore, a gender difference of performance was found; man outperform women in the non-subtitled condition. A reflection of the results based on theories on cognitive overload, split-attention effect, multitasking and spatial ability was performed.