El rol de la localització espacial en la memòria de treball visual

Estudiar les propietats de la memòria de treball visual és important perquè aquest tipus de memòria està involucrat en tasques en les que ens impliquem diàriament i es relaciona amb una gran varietat d'habilitats com l'orientació, la percepció, la imaginació i la classificació, identificació i reconeixement dels objectes en diferents categories. Aquesta investigació ha estudiat el mecanisme mitjançant el qual el cervell integra les diferents característiques visuals dels objectes, que són processades de manera separada i independent de la seva localització espacial.Estudiar las propiedades de la memoria de trabajo visual es importante porque este tipo de memoria está involucrado en tareas en las que nos implicamos diariamente y se relaciona con una gran variedad de habilidades como la orientación, la percepción, la imaginación y la clasificación, identificación y reconocimiento de los objetos en diferentes categorías. Esta investigación ha estudiado el mecanismo mediante el cual el cerebro integra las diferentes características visuales de los objetos, que son procesados de manera separada e independiente de su localización espacial.Studying the properties of visual working memory is important because this type of memory is involved in tasks in which we engage daily and it is associated with a variety of skills such as orientation, perception, imagination, classification of objects into different categories, and their identification and recognition. This research studied the mechanism by which the brain integrates different visual characteristics of objects which are processed separately and independently of their spatial location

Less is More. Effects of the Amount of Information and Its Presentation in the Recall and Reception of Audio Described Characters

Audio description is a discipline within Translation Studies aimed at making audio visual products and events accessible to blind and visually impaired audiences. Works of art, TV programs, films and stage arts are audio described in order to guarantee that anyone, regardless of his/her visual capacity, can enjoy them. In the case of films, it consists of a verbal description of visual details such as settings and characters (what they look like, what they do and how they do it) provided to the audience in those parts of the movie where no relevant sounds or dialogues are heard. The nature of audio description, in which all the information is presented auditorily and at the fast pace usually imposed by films, might pose some challenges on users’ memory. This paper is an attempt to explore this issue empirically by focusing on audio described characters. It presents a reception study designed to explore how the amount of information included in the audio description of characters and its presentation have an effect on users’ recall. Results showed that limiting the information in the descriptions and dividing it into short units delivered at different stages of the AD favored users’ memor

'What Should I Say?' Tentative Criteria to Prioritize Information in the Audio Description of Film Characters

In an attempt to study memory operation in audio description, Fresno, Castellà and Soler-Vilageliu present a reception study designed to explore which physical features of audio described characters are more frequently recalled and recognized by blind and visually impaired audiences. The results of this study indicate that age is the trait which shows a better recall and recognition by receivers, and that more physical features of characters are recalled and recognized when their descriptions are segmented. The findings of this research could provide tentative criteria for presenting and prioritizing information in professional audio description scripts

Contenido racional VS contenido emocional en la Publicidad a través del Móvil

Advertising tries to find its place in the new consumer-centered paradigm for media communication. Consumers no longer are a uniform group, passive and powerless. Mobile technology has set some specific conditions that determine this particular sender-receiver relationship. In this context, there is a need for evidence about the effectiveness of traditional advertising strategies in this rather new channel. This study explores the relationship between the relevance of rational or emotional mobile advertising contents and the product’s target cognitive and affective attitude components. An experiment was carried out in which two types of short messages (rational/emotional) advertising an eBook were sent to two groups of participants, and questions about its content were asked through an online questionnaire. Participants had been previously screened according their new role in the communication process. Results indicate that the cognitive processing component is significantly better rated than the affective component. Thus the rational strategy is more effective than the emotional one when talking about mobile advertising.La publicidad intenta encontrar su lugar en el nuevo paradigma comunicativo centrado en el consumidor. Este consumidor ha dejado de ser masivo, pasivo y sin poder. La tecnología móvil ha establecido unos condicionantes específicos que determinan una relación muy particular entre emisor y receptor. En este contexto, se precisan evidencias sobre la eficacia de las tradicionales estrategias de la publicidad en este nuevo medio. Este estudio explora la relación entre la relevancia de los contenidos racionales o emocionales en la publicidad a través del móvil y su correlación con los componentes cognitivos y actitudinales del target. Se llevó a cabo un experimento en el que dos tipos de mensajes (racional/emocional) publicitando un eBook fueron enviados a dos grupos de sujetos, a los que se les preguntó sobre su contenido mediante un cuestionario online. Los sujetos habían sido filtrados anteriormente de acuerdo a su nuevo rol en el proceso comunicativo. Los resultados indican que el componente de procesamiento cognitivo es puntuado significativamente mejor que el componente afectivo. Por lo tanto, la estrategia racional es más efectiva que la emocional en la publicidad móvil

Intervención basada en la orientación temporal. Consumo de alcohol y percepción del riesgo en adolescentes

Alcohol consumption is a prevalent risky behaviour in adolescence. A way of prevention is to obtain information about the cognitive components involved, such as Temporal Perspective (TP), which refers to the tendency to be oriented towards the past, the present or the future. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between TP, risk perception and alcohol consumption (Study 1) and to determine whether an intervention programme based on emphasizing a Future orientation can reduce alcohol consumption and increase risk perception (Study 2). Seventy-five adolescents participated in the study. Results showed that a bias toward the Present can enhance the probability of incurring in risk behaviours, while a Future orientation might act as a protective factor. Half of the adolescents took part in the intervention programme, and their risk perception increased, suggesting that TP can be a tool to minimize the probability of incurring in risk behaviours.Consumir alcohol es una conducta de riesgo frecuente en adolescentes. Una forma de prevención es obtener información sobre los componentes cognitivos involucrados, como la Perspectiva Temporal (PT), referida a la tendencia a orientarse hacia el pasado, el presente o el futuro. El objetivo del estudio fue analizar la relación entre PT, percepción de riesgo y consumo de alcohol (Estudio 1) y determinar si un programa de intervención basado en enfatizar una orientación Futura reduciría el consumo de alcohol y aumentaría la percepción de riesgo (Estudio 2). Setenta y cinco adolescentes participaron en el estudio. Los resultados mostraron que un sesgo hacia el presente aumentaría la probabilidad de incurrir en conductas de riesgo y una orientación futura actuaría como factor protector. La mitad de los adolescentes participó en la intervención y su percepción de riesgo aumentó, sugiriendo que la PT podría minimizar la probabilidad de incurrir en conductas de riesgo

Audio describing characters : what features do audiences remember?

The audio description of characters in films encompasses from brief descriptions to long and detailed ones. Guidelines and standards suggest how to approach the audio description of characters, and some practitioners, such as Bernd Benecke, have even developed models for character audio description. However, it remains to be determined how the audience receives audio descriptions and how various strategies (inclusion of more or less features, inclusion of these features in one or more silent gaps) affect the end user reception. This paper will present part of the results of a reception study aimed at exploring whether the amount of information included in the audio description of characters and its presentation have an effect on user\u27s recall. Testing materials included four self-contained clips in four different conditions (long/short character audio description, presentation in one block/more blocks of information). Forty-four blind or visually impaired participants (21 male, 23 female), aged 18 to 76, were asked to watch four audio clips, one per condition. Free recall and recognition questionnaires were then administered, as well as a WAIS-III Digit Span Forward test to measure participants\u27 memory span and classify them into two groups (low/high span). Results indicate what strategies enhance character recall, but also provide data on what features are more frequently recalled by audiences and which ones are generally obviated. This specific aspect will be the focus of our presentation. The results will be discussed from two perspectives: on the one hand, taking into account how they relate to current theoretical models of character construction and, on the other, analysing how they can be transferred into real practices or recommendations

Jump and free fall! Memory, attention, and decision-making processes in an extreme sport

In the present study, we explored the effects of high arousal on cognitive performance when facing a situation of risk. We also investigated how these effects are moderated by either positive or negative emotional states (valence). An ecological methodology was employed, and a field study was carried out in a real-life situation with 39 volunteer participants performing a bungee jumping activity and a control group of 39 participants. Arousal and valence were assessed with the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM). Working memory capacity (reverse digit span), selective attention (Go/No-Go task) and decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task) were assessed at 3 time points: 30 min before the jump, immediately after the jump, and approximately 8 min after the onset of the previous phase. The results indicate that high arousal accompanied by high positive valence scores after jumping either improved performance or led to a lack of impairment in certain cognitive tasks. The Processing-Efficiency and the Broaden-and-Build theories are put forward to explain emotional moderation of cognitive performance in potentially life-threatening situations

Effects of screen size on subtitle layout preferences and comprehension across devices

The present study sheds light on the possible effects that screen size can have on preferences and comprehension of audiovisual material content shown with subtitles. Three video excerpts with subtitles displayed on three devices with different screen size (monitor, tablet, and smartphone) were presented to 30 participants, who were asked to fill out preference and comprehension questionnaires after viewing the subtitled film excerpt. The aim of this study was to provide new empirical evidence on viewers’ needs and preferences of readability by analyzing the reception of subtitles across screens. The results obtained indicate that smartphone devices had the most unsatisfactory effects, suggesting the need to undertake further research on small screens to improve subtitling reading performance and adapt subtitles according to the screen size.Esta investigación analiza los efectos que el tamaño de pantalla puede tener en las preferencias y en la comprensión de material audiovisual subtitulado. Treinta participantes vieron tres fragmentos de vídeo en tres dispositivos con distintos tamaños de pantalla (monitor, tableta y smartphone). Tras ver los fragmentos, los participantes respondieron a una serie de cuestionarios de preferencias y comprensión. A través del análisis de la recepción de los subtítulos en diferentes tamaños de pantalla, esta investigación tiene por objeto aportar nuevas pruebas empíricas sobre las necesidades y preferencias de los espectadores. Los resultados muestran que el dispositivo que se percibe con los efectos más negativos es el smartphone, lo que plantea la necesidad de seguir investigando los dispositivos con pantallas más pequeñas para mejorar la lectura de los subtítulos y adaptarlos en función del tamaño

Rational vs emotional content in mobile advertising

Advertising tries to find its place in the new consumer-centered paradigm for media communication. Consumers no longer are a uniform group, passive and powerless. Mobile technology has set some specific conditions that determine this particular sender-receiver relationship. In this context, there is a need for evidence about the effectiveness of traditional advertising strategies in this rather new channel. This study explores the relationship between the relevance of rational or emotional mobile advertising contents the product's target cognitive and affective attitude components. An experiment was carried out in which two types of short messages (rational/emotional) advertising an eBook were sent to two groups of participants, and questions about its content were asked through an online questionnaire. Participants had been previously screened according their new role in the communication process. Results indicate that the cognitive processing component is significantly better rated than the affective component. Thus the rational strategy is more effective than the emotional one when talking about mobile advertising.La publicidad intenta encontrar su lugar en el nuevo paradigma comunicativo centrado en el consumidor. Este consumidor ha dejado de ser masivo, pasivo y sin poder. La tecnología móvil ha establecido unos condicionantes específicos que determinan una relación muy particular entre emisor y receptor. En este contexto, se precisan evidencias sobre la eficacia de las tradicionales estrategias de la publicidad en este nuevo medio. Este estudio explora la relación entre la relevancia de los contenidos racionales o emocionales en la publicidad a través del móvil y su correlación con los componentes cognitivos y actitudinales del target. Se llevó a cabo un experimento en el que dos tipos de mensajes (racional/emocional) publicitando un eBook fueron enviados a dos grupos de sujetos, a los que se les preguntó sobre su contenido mediante un cuestionario online. Los sujetos habían sido filtrados anteriormente de acuerdo a su nuevo rol en el proceso comunicativo. Los resultados indican que el componente de procesamiento cognitivo es puntuado significativamente mejor que el componente afectivo. Por lo tanto, la estrategia racional es más efectiva que la emocional en la publicidad móvi