2. Literature review
2.1. Research into the personalization principle
According to Mayer (2009), personalized language style can be formed in two ways, as demonstrated in Table 1.
These two methods for personalizing learning instructions were also used in the present study to manipulate formal texts. Since the research questions of the present study focus on learning with the use of a computer, the research presented below only refers to computer-based learning environments (cf. Ginns & Fraser, 2010 for an example of paper-based material).
Research into the personalization principle was initially con-ducted in an English-speaking area. In Moreno and Mayer’s exper-imental series (2000), college students received a multimedia explanation of ‘lightning’ (Exp. 1–2) or played a computer game about environmental science that included a pedagogical agent (Exp. 3–5). Personalized messages (using first and second person) resulted in higher problem-solving transfer than formal messages (using third person) across all experiments. This effect was found for retention, only in experiments 3–5 (agent-based computer game). In another experiment by Moreno and Mayer (2004), col-lege students learned with an agent-based multimedia educational game. The game was presented via desktop computer (low immer-sion) or head-mounted display (high immersion). The agent used personalized language (‘I’ and ‘you’) or formal language (third person). Students who received personalized agent instructions performed better in retention and transfer tests. These results were