IMPACT OF VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS (REALISTIC VS. CARTOON VS. NO VISUALS) ON READINGCOMPREHENSION IN 9–11-YEAR-OLDS

Reading comprehension is a cornerstone of cognitive development and lifelong learning. As visual materials increasingly accompany textual content, their pedagogical function extends beyond aesthetic appeal—they shape attention, understanding, and memory. Yet, the nature of visuals most effective for comprehension, particularly within Indian primary classrooms, remains underexplored.This study investigates the differential impact of realistic, cartoon, and no-visual formats on reading comprehension among 400 Indian children aged 9–11 years. The research is grounded in Dual-Coding Theory (Paivio, 1986) and Cognitive Load Theory (Mayer, 2009), integrating the policy vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 toward multimodal and experiential learning. Participants were assigned to one of three visual conditions and tested for factual recall, inferential reasoning, and engagement using standardized reading materials.Statistical analyses (ANOVA, t-tests, correlations) revealed that realistic visuals significantly outperformed cartoon and text-only formats in comprehension accuracy and inferential reasoning, while cartoon visuals achieved the highest engagement scores but slightly lower comprehension depth. Text-only formats yielded the weakest performance, emphasizing the cognitive importance of visuals as scaffolding tools.The study concludes that visuals should be treated as cognitive instruments—structured to aid information integration, schema activation, and motivation—rather than decorative supplements. The results provide actionable guidelines for textbook designers, publishers, and educators under NEP 2020, bridging psychology, design, and pedagogy for evidencebased literacy design.