Falling Asleep During PowerPoint Presentations

Does this happen to you?  If so, it may not be your fault -- it could be your brain.

From InformationWeek:

The brain simply isn't wired to absorb information in two simultaneous forms as well as it takes in one type of information. Processing the written and spoken word at the same time creates quite a challenge for the mind, according to John Sweller, a researcher from the University of New South Wales.

"PowerPoint presentations can backfire if the information on the screen is the same as that which is verbalized because the audience's attention will be split between the two," he said in a statement released through the university.

Sweller crafted the Cognitive Load Theory, which deals with the amount of information people can process at once. Sweller believes it's more difficult to process language and retain new information simultaneously.

What really tunes the brain out during PowerPoint? Speaking the same words that are on the screen, according to Sweller.

Comments

[kate]

I have noticed that when I tried to read some text that was exactly the same as an audio voiceover on a video, I had a hard time following both at the same time. But PowerPoint presentations are just static images, and isn't it just like a professor using an overhead projector in a lecture? Doesn't seem too difficult. Though students do often fall asleep in class. I always figured it had more to do with plain boredomm, and the heat being cranked up in cold weather.

[Denise]

What?! Wow. I've never had a problem with this. To me it's always been like someone reading a story out loud.

Hmmm...