Re-Interpreting Melton’s Study of Gallery Density and Visitor Attention

The works of Edward Robinson and Arthur Melton conducted in the 1920s and 1930s are often cited, but rarely read. The focus of this article is on one of Melton’s (1935) classic visitor studies, re-examined in terms of several explanatory mechanisms including a decision-making model of visitor attention. Melton varied the number of paintings in a gallery from 6 to 36 in increments of 6. As the number of paintings increased, the proportion of paintings actually viewed decreased; however, the average viewing time per painting remained constant. Melton’s findings of decreased attention are discussed in terms of four possible explanations: perceptual distraction, selective choice, object satiation, and fatigue. While fatigue, satiation, and distraction have all been frequently discussed in the visitor literature, selective choice has not. The implications of the attention-value model for selective choice is described in light of Melton’s study

Who are the visitors of the art museums: Particularities of the publics of the weekends at the Art Museum of Tigre (Argentina)

Saber quiénes son sus visitantes es una de las principales tareas de los museos en la actualidad, en la medida en que fluctúan entre ajustarse a las imposiciones del sistema capitalista y convertirse en instituciones democráticas y participativas. No obstante, este aspecto resulta aun más dificultoso en los museos de arte, en virtud de los atributos particulares de su estructura y actores. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo aproximar algunos criterios que permitan conocer quiénes son los visitantes de los museos de arte creados en Argentina desde el inicio del nuevo milenio. Dada la magnitud del desafío, se procura, con el foco puesto en un caso particular, trazar algunos lineamientos sostenidos en los enfoques teórico-críticos aplicados a la museología y en los estudios de públicos. En cuanto a lo metodológico, se recurrió a un estudio de visitantes que apeló a orientaciones cuantitativas y cualitativas, realizado en el Museo de Arte de Tigre durante 2017, centrado en los públicos del fin de semana. Se considera que, al indagar los rasgos singulares de esta entidad patrimonial, pueden identificarse algunos indicios que permitan comenzar a trazar un perfil, tanto general como específico, de los visitantes de los museos de arte.Knowing who its visitors are is one of the main tasks of museums today, as they fluctuate between conforming to the impositions of the capitalist system and becoming democratic and participatory institutions. However, this aspect is even more difficult in the arts museums because of the particular attributes of their structure and its diverse actors. The present work has as main object to bring near some criteria that may allow to know who are the visitors of the art museums in Argentina since the beginning of the new millennium. Given the extent of the challenge, we’ll try, focusing in a particular case, draw some guidelines sustained in the theorical-critical approaches applied to museology and studies of the publics. In terms of methodology, a visitor study was carried out at the Tigre Art Museum in 2017, using both quantitative and qualitative guidelines, focusing on weekend audiences. It is considered that, when we question the singularities of this entity, there are some indications that a general and specific profile of visitors to art museums can begin to be identified.Saber quem são seus visitantes é uma das principais tarefas dos museus na atualidade, na medida em que flutuam entre amoldar-se às imposições do sistema capitalista e converter-se em instituições democráticas e participativas. Não obstante, este aspecto resulta ainda mais dificultoso nos museus de arte, devido aos atributos particulares de sua estrutura e atores. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo aproximar alguns critérios que permitam conhecer quem são os visitantes dos museus de arte criados na Argentina desde o início do novo milênio. Dada a magnitude do desafio, e com o foco posto em um caso particular, buscou-se traçar alguns lineamentos sustentados nos enfoques teórico-críticos aplicados à museologia e nos estudos de públicos. Quanto à metodologia, a pesquisa teve como base um estudo de visitantes que apelou a orientações quantitativas e qualitativas, realizado no Museu de Arte de Tigre durante o ano de 2017, focado nos públicos de fim de semana. Considera-se que, ao indagarmos os traços singulares desta entidade, podem ser identificados alguns indícios que permitam começar a esboçar um perfil, tanto geral quanto específico, dos visitantes dos museus de arte.Fil: Panozzo Zenere, Alejandra Gabriela. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Relaciones Internacionales. Instituto de Investigaciones. Centro de Investigaciones en Mediatizaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; Argentin

Les méthodes d'évaluation de l'efficacité des dioramas : compte rendu critique

Dioramas remain a popular exhibit device in many types of museums. Basic questions such as «What is a diorama?» and «How do we measure their effectiveness? » are discussed in the introduction of this article. The literature evaluating dioramas is then divided into two catégories: (1) studies that either added exhibit enhancements (e.g., sound, video, hands-on activities) or made cosmetic changes (refurhishing old dioramas); and (2) studies that assessed the optimum parameters of the diorama (i.e., three-dimensionality, background context, size, location, etc). A third section of the article discussed two major issues in diorama évaluation: (1) theoretical explanations of the impact of dioramas as a unique exhibit élément; and (2) the issue ofwhether or not it is meaningful to compare exhibits with and without dioramas.Les dioramas sont un élément de présentation d'exposition populaire présent dans de nombreux types de musées. Des questions de base comme «qu'est-ce qu'un diorama?» et «comment mesurer leur efficacité?» sont discutées dans l'introduction de cet article. Les études portant sur l'évaluation des dioramas sont regroupées en deux catégories: (1) les études dans lesquelles les dioramas sont mis en valeur au moyen par exemple d'activités faisant intervenir le toucher ou des animations vidéos et/ou sonores, ou concernant les améliorations de forme (remise à neuf); (2) les études qui mesurent l'optimisation des paramètres du diorama (la tri-dimentionnalité, le décor, les dimensions, la localisation, etc.). Dans une troisième partie sont discutés les problèmes essentiels dans l'évaluation des dioramas tels que (1) l'explication théorique de l'impact des dioramas en tant qu'élément d'exposition exceptionnel, et (2) le problème de savoir si cela a un sens de comparer des expositions avec ou sans dioramas.Los dioramas son un elemento de presentación de exposición popular en numerosos tipos de museos. Unas preguntas basicas coma «qué es un diorama?» y «cómo evaluar su eficacia?» se discuten en la introducción de este articulo. Los estudios que tratan de la evaluación de los dioramas se dividen en dos categorias : (1) los estudios que anaden una mejora en la presentaciôn de la exposiciôn (por ejemplo actividades en que interviener el sonido, la video, el tacto) o introducen cambios cosméticos (renovando viejos dioramas); (2) los estudios que miden la optimización de los parametros (es decer la tridimensionalidad, el telón de fondo, los dimensiones, la situaciôn, etc.). En la tercera parte del articulo se discuten dos problemas esenciales en la evaluaciôn de los dioramas: (1) la explicación teórica del impacto de los dioramas como élémento excepcional de exposiciôn; (2) el problema de saber si tiene sentido comparar exposiciones con o sin dioramas.Bitgood Stephen. Les méthodes d'évaluation de l'efficacité des dioramas : compte rendu critique. In: Publics et Musées, n°9, 1996. Les dioramas (sous la direction de Bernard Schiele) pp. 37-53

Les pratiques de l'évaluation des expositions

Over the past thirty years a set of very specific evaluation methodologies have evolved that have demonstrated over and over again that they can be successfully applied to the development of exhibitions ofall kinds, including those found in art museums and gaïleries, as well as those designed for science centers, natural history museums, aquariums, historic sites, and other informal learning environments. It is the purpose of this paper to briefly describe these methodologies, using actual case studies to show their practical application in a variety ofsettings. Where appropriate, problems that arose in connection with the work being described arepresented as well.Pendant les trente dernières années, des méthodologies d'évaluation très spécifiques se sont développées et ont maintes et maintes fois prouvé qu'elles pouvaient être utilement appliquées pour élaborer toutes sortes d'exposition : expositions conçues dans les musées d'art, dans des centres scientifiques, des musées d'histoire naturelle, des aquariums, des sites historiques et autres lieux d'apprentissage informel. Cet article se propose donc de décrire brièvement ces méthodologies en se fondant sur des études de cas réels, afin de montrer comment ces pratiques ont été concrètement appliquées dans des environnements différents. Quand il y a lieu, les problèmes qui se sont posés et qui étaient liés au travail de l'évaluation sont exposés.Durante los ultimos treinta anos, metodologias de evaluación muy especificas fueron desarolladas, demostrando que podian ser muy utiles para la preparación de muchas exposiciones, en museos, centros cientificos, museos de historia natural, acuarios, emplazamientos históricos y otros lugares de educación informal. Este articulo describe estas metodologias. Nos basamos en ejemplos concretos para indicar como estas practicas fueron concretamente aplicadas en ambiantes diferentes.Shettel Harris H., Bitgood Stephen, Publics et musées. Les pratiques de l'évaluation des expositions. In: Publics et Musées, n°4, 1994. pp. 9-26

Rats' lever-press durations as psychophysical judgments of time

Hungry rats received food following lever-press durations exceeding a minimum value, which ranged from 0 to 6.4 sec. When no intertrial intervals separated successive presses, modal press durations remained at very short values as the minimum value required for food was increased. This was particularly true immediately after a food presentation. When an 8-sec intertrial interval followed each lever release, modal press durations were always at or beyond the minimum value required for food, and outcome of the preceding press had no effect on press duration. Possible reasons for the effects of intertrial intervals included punishment of short presses, increased delay of reinforcement of short presses, and reduced density of reinforcement. In addition, functions relating discrete-trials lever-press duration to minimum duration required for food were found to be qualitatively and quantitatively similar to the power functions recently proposed by Catania (1970) for interresponse time and response latency. This similarity was taken as support for a general psychophysical law of temporal judgments