Richard E. Mayer (born 1947) is an American

educational psychologist An educational psychologist is a psychologist whose differentiating functions may include diagnostic and psycho-educational assessment, psychological counseling in educational communities (students, teachers, parents, and academic authorities ...

and Professor of Psychology at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

(UCSB) where he has served since 1975. He received a PhD in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

(1973), and served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

from 1973–1975. Mayer has made significant contributions to theories of

cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, though ...

and learning, especially as they relate to

problem solving Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...

and the design of educational

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to traditio ...

. His best known contribution to the field of educational psychology is multimedia learning theory, which posits that optimal learning occurs when visual and verbal materials are presented together simultaneously. He is the year 2000 recipient of the E. L. Thorndike Award for career achievement in educational psychology, and the winner of 2008 Distinguished Contribution of Applications of Psychology to Education and Training Award from the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It has ...

. He was ranked #1 as the most productive educational psychologist in the world for 1997–2001.Contemporary Educational Psychology, vol. 28, pp. 422–430

Writings

Mayer is the author of more than 390 publications including 23 books on education and multimedia. A selection: * ''Multimedia Learning''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001. * ''Learning and Instruction''. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill, 2003 * With Clark, Ruth Colvin. ''E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning''. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2003. * ''The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning''. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2005. * ''The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning Second Edition''. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

References

External links

Richard Mayer bio

1947 births Living people American psychologists Educational psychologists University of Michigan alumni University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Educational Psychologist (journal) editors {{US-psychologist-stub