Classical grouping “Laws” specify the perceptual conditions that guide viewers to see elements in a single group. For example, people tend to group together elements that are nearby (The Law of Proximity). Similarly, we group together elements that appear similar (The Law of Similarity). 

Other Information Processing Laws

The P.D. means that two properties (such as two colors, degrees of gray, or sizes) can’t convey different information unless they differ by a large enough proportion to be easily distinguished. 

The Principle of Discriminability 

The P.P.O. entails that people automatically organize elements into groups, which they then attend to, and remember more accurately. 

Principle of Perceptual Organization

The P.L.C. states that people have a limited capacity to retain and process information, and won’t understand a message if too much information needs to be memorized and processed. 

The Principle of Limited Capacity

When viewing a sequence of slide, the audience primarily will encode what they see, and if they fail to encode material, it may as well not even exist. The follow three principles cover encoding processes in this context: Discriminability, Perceptual Organization, and Salience.

Ohio State University, Columbus

There are eight elements in a quality PowerPoint presentation, and these elements are key in making sure that the presentation is worthwhile and will maintain the attention of the people watching the presentation. These elements are broken up into 3 broader categories: Encoding Processes, Working Memory, and Accessing Long-Term Memory.

Principles of a Quality PowerPoint

Kosslyn, S. M., Kievit, R. A., Russell, A. G., & Shephard, J. M. (2012, July 17). PowerPoint® Presentation Flaws and failures: A psychological analysis. Frontiers. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00230/full 

PowerPoint® Presentation Flaws and Failures: A Psychological Analysis

Encoding Processes

After visual patterns are encoded, they need to be integrated. In a typical presentation, material needs to be integrated in working memory over the course of multiple slides. The integration process is a prelude to completely comprehending both individual displays and the whole presentation. The following two principles fall under working memory: Limited Capacity and Informative Change.

Working Memory

Task analysis leads us to posit a third class of relevant processes. Encoding information and integrating it appropriately wouldn’t be useful if the meaning of the material wasn’t understood. In order to create meaning from the stimuli, it must be compared to previously stored information in the long-term memory. Through retrieval, we can comprehend the imported information. The follow three principles address accessing long-term memory, and relevant stored information: Appropriate Knowledge, Compatibility, and Relevance.

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