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2026

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Best Scientists

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169
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Psychology

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171
Citations
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Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Psychology in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Best Scientists Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Psychology in United States Leader Award
  • 2018 - James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award, Association for Psychological Science
  • 2008 - Fellow of the American Educational Research Association
  • 2000 - E. L. Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
  • 1984 - Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA)

Overview

Richard E. Mayer is affiliated with the University of California, Santa Barbara in the United States. Their research primarily spans the fields of Psychology, Computer Science, and Social Sciences, with notable focus on Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Developmental and Educational Psychology, as well as Education. Additional subfields include Human-Computer Interaction and Social Psychology.

Their research addresses several main topics including Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes, Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods, Online and Blended Learning, Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts, Educational Games and Gamification, Communication in Education and Healthcare, and Video Analysis and Summarization.

Richard E. Mayer has contributed extensively to academic literature, with recent notable papers including:

  • Five ways to increase the effectiveness of instructional video (2020), Educational Technology Research and Development
  • The Past, Present, and Future of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (2024), Educational Psychology Review
  • Cognitive and affective processes for learning science in immersive virtual reality (2020), Journal of Computer Assisted Learning
  • Immersive virtual reality increases liking but not learning with a science simulation and generative learning strategies promote learning in immersive virtual reality (2020), Journal of Educational Psychology
  • Benefits of Taking a Virtual Field Trip in Immersive Virtual Reality: Evidence for the Immersion Principle in Multimedia Learning (2022), Educational Psychology Review

Frequent co-authors collaborating with Richard E. Mayer include:

  • Logan Fiorella
  • Fuxing Wang
  • Alyssa P. Lawson
  • Fangzheng Zhao
  • Nicoletta Adamo-Villani

Their work is commonly published in several key academic venues, among them:

  • Educational Psychology Review
  • Journal of Computer Assisted Learning
  • Journal of Educational Computing Research
  • Journal of Educational Psychology
  • Learning and Instruction

Over the course of their career, Richard E. Mayer has been recognized with several awards including:

  • James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award, Association for Psychological Science (2018)
  • Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (2008)
  • E. L. Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association (2000)
  • Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) (1984)

Best Publications

  • e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

    Ruth Colvin Clark;Richard E. Mayer

  • Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning

    Richard E. Mayer;Roxana Moreno

  • Should There Be a Three-Strikes Rule against Pure Discovery Learning?.

    Richard E. Mayer

  • The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning

    Richard E. Mayer

  • Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning

    Richard E. Mayer

  • Multimedia learning, 2nd ed.

    Richard E. Mayer

  • Multimedia learning: Are we asking the right questions?

    Richard E. Mayer

  • Thinking, Problem Solving, Cognition

    Richard E. Mayer

  • Cognitive Principles of Multimedia Learning: The Role of Modality and Contiguity

    Roxana Moreno;Richard E. Mayer

  • A Split-Attention Effect in Multimedia Learning: Evidence for Dual Processing Systems in Working Memory

    Richard E. Mayer;Roxana Moreno

  • The promise of multimedia learning: using the same instructional design methods across different media

    Richard E. Mayer

  • For whom is a picture worth a thousand words? Extensions of a dual-coding theory of multimedia learning.

    Richard E. Mayer;Valerie K. Sims

  • Interactive Multimodal Learning Environments Special Issue on Interactive Learning Environments: Contemporary Issues and Trends

    Roxana Moreno;Richard Mayer

  • The instructive animation: helping students build connections between words and pictures in multimedia learning

    Richard E. Mayer;Richard B. Anderson

  • Cognitive constraints on multimedia learning: When presenting more material results in less understanding.

    Richard E. Mayer;Julie Heiser;Steve Lonn

  • Animations need narrations : an experimental test of a dual-coding hypothesis

    Richard E. Mayer;Richard B. Anderson

  • Rote Versus Meaningful Learning

    Richard E. Mayer

  • Animation as an Aid to Multimedia Learning

    Richard E. Mayer;Roxana Moreno

  • The Case for Social Agency in Computer-Based Teaching: Do Students Learn More Deeply When They Interact With Animated Pedagogical Agents?

    Roxana Moreno;Richard E. Mayer;Hiller A. Spires;James C. Lester

  • Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning

    Unknown

  • The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning

    Unknown

  • Multimedia Learning: Principles for Managing Essential Processing in Multimedia Learning

    Richard E. Mayer

Frequent Co-Authors

Roxana Moreno
Roxana Moreno University of New Mexico
Mary Hegarty
Mary Hegarty University of California, Santa Barbara
Bruce M. McLaren
Bruce M. McLaren Carnegie Mellon University
Patricia A. Alexander
Patricia A. Alexander University of Maryland, College Park
W. Lewis Johnson
W. Lewis Johnson University of Southern California
Kevin C. Almeroth
Kevin C. Almeroth University of California, Santa Barbara
Detlev Leutner
Detlev Leutner University of Duisburg-Essen
Jan L. Plass
Jan L. Plass New York University
Seiji Isotani
Seiji Isotani University of Pennsylvania
Bethany Rittle-Johnson
Bethany Rittle-Johnson Vanderbilt University

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