Relating a picture and 1000 words: Self-derivation through integration within and across presentation formats.

To build knowledge, separate yet related learning episodes can be integrated with one another and then used to derive new knowledge. Separate episodes are often experienced through different formats, such as text passages and graphic representations. Accordingly, in the present research, we tested integration of learning episodes provided through different presentation formats with children in the laboratory (Experiment 1; n = 24; M = 8.36 years) and in classrooms (Experiment 2; n = 85; M = 9.34 years and Experiment 3; n = 154; M = 10.67 years). Children in the laboratory were successful in both same-format and different-format conditions. Children in the classroom were also successful in both conditions, but in Exp. 2 showed a cost to integration across two different presentation formats compared to the same-format condition. In Exp. 3, greater support for encoding the graphic information was added and performance no longer showed a cost between conditions.