The closer, the better? Processing relations between picture elements in historical paintings

The present eye-tracking study investigated how audio explanations influence perception and the cognitive processing of historical paintings. Spatially close and distant pairs of picture elements and their semantic relations were named in an audio text either immediately after each other or with descriptions of other elements in between. It was assumed that the number of backward fixation counts on the first of the two mentioned related picture elements should be higher if they are spatially close rather than spatially distant. There should also be more backward fixation counts if the elements are named temporally close rather than temporally distant. Similar predictions were made for the retention of these picture elements and their relations. A 2x2x2 within-subject design (n=36) with spatial distance (close vs. distant), temporal distance (close vs. distant) and painting (Leutze vs. West) revealed more background fixation counts for spatially close compared to spatially distant elements but just for the Leutze painting. Accordingly, the relations between the spatially close pairs were retained better than between the spatially distant pairs in the Leutze painting but vice versa for the West painting. The results are discussed with regard to the spatial contiguity principle of multimedia learning and research on text coherence

First-time viewers' comprehension of films: Bridging shot transitions

Tujuan penelitian ini  untuk mengetahui pengaruh hubungan antara kualitas pelayanan dan kualitas produk terhadap kepuasan konsumen pada industri ritel, khususnya  Supermarket Matahari, Mal Metropolitan dan Carrefour. Metode penelitian menggunakan asosiatif kausal, bertujuan untuk mengukur hubungan kausal variabel independen dengan variabel dependen. Populasi penelitian seluruh konsumen ketiga supermarket, dan jumlah sampel yang diambil sebanyak 120 orang (random sampling). Pengambilan data  dengan menggunakan teknik kuesioner yang terstruktur yang disampaikan kepada responden pada saat berbelanja, yaitu sekitar bulan Februari-Maret 2011. Untuk menguji hipotesis digunakan analisis regresi dan Anova. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kualitas pelayanan dan kualitas produk merupakan faktor utama yang mempengaruhi kepuasan konsumen berbelanja di ketiga supermarket, karena itu ketiga supermarket harus tetap meningkatkan kualitas pelayanan dan kualitas produk secara berkesinambungan, agar selain  dapat bertahan juga berkembang dimasa datang. Dilihat dari persentase jawaban masing-masing responden super- market, dapat disimpulkan bahwa konsumen lebih senang berbelanja di Carrefour dari pada di kedua supermarket, karena faktor kualitas pelayanan dan produk yang diberikan lebih unggul/superior dibandingkan dengan Mal Metropolitan dan Matahari

Perspective and space in the interplay of film and viewer

Im Gegensatz zu statischen Bildern erstrecken sich in Filmen Räume (und die Geschehnisse, die sich darin abspielen) über Sequenzen von Einstellungen hinweg. So zerlegt beispielsweise die analytische Montage eine Situation in eine Reihe einzelner Ausschnitte, die dann als Sequenz von aufeinander folgenden Einstellungen präsentiert werden. Um das gezeigte Geschehen nachvollziehen zu können, müssen die Zuschauer diese Zerlegung kognitiv wieder rückgängig machen: Sie müssen die verschiedenen Einstellungen mit ihren unterschiedlichen, nur partiell überlappenden Blickwinkeln und Distanzen aufeinander beziehen und daraus eine mentale Vorstellung der Gesamtsituation entwickeln. Empirische Studien, die am Institut für Wissensmedien durchgeführt wurden, zeigen, dass dieser Prozess kognitive Ressourcen beansprucht, die durch die Wahl des Kamerastandpunkts und durch die Berücksichtigung etablierter kinematographischer Regeln minimiert werden können. Zudem belegen Beobachtungen an filmunvertrauten Zuschauern die wichtige Rolle der dargestellten Ereignisse für das Verstehen räumlicher Zusammenhänge.In contrast to static pictures, space (as well as the events taking place therein) in motion pictures stretches across various sequences of shots. For example, the analytical montage firstly segments a given situation in a set of separate clips which are then presented as a sequence of consecutive shots. Viewers, however, need to undo this segmentation cognitively in order to reconstruct the events shown: In particular, they have to correlate the different shots including their distinct, only partially overlapping angles and distances, and subsequently form a mental representation of the overall situation. Empirical studies conducted at the Knowledge Media Research Center show that the necessary cognitive resources for this process can be minimized by applying a particular camera angle and by considering well-established cinematographic rules. Furthermore, studies of viewers unfamiliar with motion pictures reveal the important role of the shown events themselves for the understanding of spatial correlations