The picture superiority effect refers to the phenomenon in which pictures and images are more likely to be remembered than are words. This effect has been demonstrated in numerous experiments using different methods. It is based on the notion that “human memory is extremely sensitive to the symbolic modality of presentation of event information”. Explanations for the picture superiority effect are not concrete and are still being debated.
According to dual-coding theory (1971, 1986), memory exists either (or both) verbally or through imagery. Concrete concepts presented as pictures are encoded into both systems; however, abstract concepts are recorded only verbally. In psychology, the effect has implications for salience in attribution theory as well as the availability heuristic. It is also relevant to advertising and user interface design.
The idea of visuals boosting learning is also support by the “Picture Superiority Effect”. It refers to the observation that people can recall more information if it is presented using visuals than when it’s shown using plain text. People are only likely to remember 10% of what they read or hear three days later. However, when you add visuals to the same information, they’ll remember 65% of it.