Franz Roh and Visual Juxtaposition in Foto-Auge

This study of Foto-Auge (1929) is grounded on the approach of Franz Roh and aims to unlock the book’s meaning through an analysis of layout and visual sequence. This thesis also demonstrates how Foto-Auge proclaims photography’s ability not merely to record, but to disrupt any sense of reality in images

The effect of feedback at test on source memory performance

Previous research has demonstrated that witnesses can come to believe they saw details that were only suggested to them after the witnessed event. For both theoretical and practical reasons, there is interest in developing techniques that reduce the effect of misleading post-event information. The present study examined the effect of receiving feedback at the time of retrieval on eyewitness suggestibility. All participants watched a videotaped crime of a home burglary and then answered questions that contained misleading information. On a final source memory test, participants that were provided with feedback as to the accuracy of their attributions during the first part of the test, significantly reduced the number of source misattributions made on the second part of the test. Thus, feedback at retrieval appears to be a promising technique for reducing eyewitness memory errors

Colour in Learning: It’s Effect on the Retention Rate of Graduate Students

Cognitive psychologists have discovered different design principles to enhance memory performance. It has been said that retrieving process depends on many variables and one of them is colour. This paper provides an overview of research on colour and learning. It includes the effect of colour on attention, retention and memory performance, and relates these to the design of instructional materials. The study reported the effect colour had on the retention rate of graduate students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye. Thirty graduate students participated in this study. The purpose of this research study was to determine if colour (in prints form) influence the learning process. The independent variable was colour at two levels: Congruent colours (colours corresponding to the words) and Incongruent colours (colours not related to the words), while for the control, Achromatic colours (black and shades of grey) were used. The dependent variable was the retention rate i.e. number of words recalled. The research design was a posttest only design. A one-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data and the results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the number of words recalled based on colour. The groups exposed to congruent colours and achromatic colours performed better than those exposed to incongruent colours, although the group exposed to the congruent colour prints performed better than those of the other groups.  Therefore designers of instructional materials need to use colour wisely by paying attention to the effect of colour on learning. Keywords: Colour , Learning, Retention, Instructional Design

Exploring illustration styles for materials used in visual resources for people with aphasia

Images are often used in cueing therapy and other kinds of rehabilitation activities for people with an acquired brain injury. This paper presents a small-scale pilot study, which explores the appropriateness of different styles of illustration applied to visual resources used in combination with assistive technologies for people with aphasia. The study is part of a larger multidisciplinary project exploring how assistive technologies can be used to facilitate maximal engagement with rehabilitation and to facilitate communication and reengagement with hobbies and leisure activities. The study explored participants’ preferences and impressions of the materials with a view to informing design choices made for resources developed for the larger project. Three participants with aphasia participated in a focus group in which they were shown examples of materials developed as resources for cueing therapy and lifestyle activities. Four sets of illustrations varying in visual complexity – from icons with no context to illustrations with developed backgrounds – were shown at two sizes (A3 and A4). Participants shared their impressions of ease of use and their preferences for different levels of visual complexity in the illustrations, as well as changes in format and layout (combinations of six, nine and 12 images per board). Based on previous research and existing guidelines for good practice, we had anticipated that participants would find the contextualised examples more meaningful. However, our findings highlighted that participants preferred simple, icon-style illustrations rather than those with contextual detail. Participants’ comments suggested that familiarity with this style of illustration – based on their everyday engagement with mobile interfaces – was a likely explanation for this

Haunting Images: Differential Perception and Emotional Response to the Archetypes of News Photography: A Study of Visual Reception Factored by Gender and Expertise

This dissertation explores how and why certain news photographs become memorable. Although researchers believe news photos count as forms of media expression, no one knows how influential these images really are in shaping societal attitudes. Social constructionist critics have argued that iconic images are pervasive markers of American collective memory. While icons have become the subject of intense media study, critics have ignored the presence of image archetypes that fall outside of the boundaries of the American iconic canon. They have also followed a top-down procedure of interpretation rather than a bottom-up method of collecting data from actual subjects. As I define it, the news image archetype is an authentically captured image of a human predicament of the greatest magnitude and seriousness showing conflict, tragedy, and occasionally, triumph. Visually these images communicate through physical gestures and facial expressions either directly, when faces are visible, or by implication in panoramic shots. Archetypal images can be iconic but need not be. Whereas icons are presumed to appeal to "everybody" by modeling ideology and "civic performance," archetypes need not exhibit any particular ideology. The common thread is more universally human than political. For this reason their appeal tends to be trans-cultural. This mixed-method study tests audience response to 41 outstanding news photographs including iconic, archetypal and ordinary examples. The purpose is to ascertain whether archetypal images can be distinguished and recalled as outstanding exemplars outside the iconic category; whether image quality preferences vary by visual expertise and gender; and how study subjects "read" the archetype. Using 2X2 ANOVA design, I studied four independent groups: male/female, visual expert/visual non-expert; n = 113. Study data indicate a convergence of ranking preference for some non-iconic archetypes that were rated as highly as famous icons. However, the strongest results show a convergence as to which image qualities (e.g., aesthetics, newsworthiness, emotional arousal etc.) were most important to viewers. The study found statistically significant differences of judgment on image qualities factored by gender and expertise. Qualitative results provided rich insights on factors affecting viewer response while composite data suggest multiple lines of future research

Dumb pictures: an exploration

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Cross-Examining Film

The Supreme Court decision in Scott v. Harris holds that a Georgia police officer did not violate a fleeing suspect\u27s Fourth Amendment rights when he caused the suspect\u27s car to crash. The court\u27s decision relies almost entirely on the filmed version of the high-speed police chase taken from a dash-cam, a video camera mounted on the dashboard of the pursuing police cruiser. The Supreme Court said that in light of the contrary stories told by the opposing parties to the lawsuit, the only story to be believed was that told by the video. In Scott v. Harris, the court fell into a dangerous and common trap of believing - to the point of enshrining in our law - that film captures reality. As Justice Breyer said in oral argument of the case seemingly flabbergasted by contrary findings below: I see with my eyes ... what happened, what am I supposed to do? The Supreme Court is not the first court to fall prey to the persuasive power of film. It is typical for courts and advocates to naively treat filmic evidence as a transparent window revealing the whole truth, as a presentation of unambiguous reality. But film has a history in art as a constructed medium. As filmmakers and critics have known since the beginning of cinema, film\u27s appearance of reality is an illusion, an illusion based on conventions of representation. How could Mr. Scott have countered the weight of the film and its persuasive power? When faced with prejudicial filmic evidence, how does an advocate undermine the assertive nature of film and its overwhelming appearance of exposure? The advocate must cross-examine the film the way she cross-examines witnesses. Because films are assertive in nature, an advocate faced with filmic evidence must treat it the way she treats other testimonial evidence, critically and with careful scrutiny. She must cross-examine the film. This article will set forth certain examination techniques using a piece of filmic evidence (linked to the article) from a recent case as an example. By doing so, it aspires to be a teaching tool for other courts and advocates in their treatment and consideration of filmic evidence