There is some indication that people differ regarding their visual and verbal cognitive style. The Object‐Spatial Imagery and Verbal Questionnaire (OSIVQ) assumes a three‐dimensional cognitive style model, which distinguishes between object imagery, spatial imagery and verbal dimensions. Using eye tracking as a means to observe actual gaze behaviours when learning with text–picture combinations, the current study aims to validate this three‐dimensional assumption by linking the OSIVQ to learning behaviour. The results largely confirm the model in that they show the expected correlations between results on the OSIVQ, visuo‐spatial ability and learning behaviour. Distinct differences between object visualizers, spatial visualizers and verbalizers could be demonstrated.© 2016 The Authors Applied Cognitive Psychology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.