The purpose of this study was to determine if increasing levels of complexity in visual production techniques would increase the viewer's learning comprehension and the degree of likeness expressed for a college level instructional television program. A total of 119 mass communications students at the University of Alabama participated in the study. There was no significant difference found in the level of learning comprehension or the degree of likeness between the experimental groups that saw the basic version (cuts-only editing, on-camera graphics, and simple computer character generation), the advanced version (basic version plus dissolves, fades, and computer generated static graphics), and the extravagant version (advanced version plus digital video compression, digital video expansion, and computer generated moving graphics) of the same instructional television program. These results lead to two conclusions: (1) instructional television producers may utilize complex visual production techniques when appropriate without fearing any negative effects on learning; and (2) organizations need not spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for television equipment when equipment costing only tens of thousands of dollars will produce the same educational results. Data are presented in nine tables. (Contains 53 references.) (Author/ALF)