1. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Metaphorical Visualizations: Their Influence on the Emotional Intensity of Text Themes Neil H. Schwartz, Robert Danielson & Maryam Falahi California State University, USA

2. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Purpose To show that: 1.Decorative graphics serve more than the function of adornment per se when accompanying text; they influence the way learners cognitively interact with a text based upon the text themes the graphics make salient. 2.Decorative graphics influence learners’ ability to extract the underlying themes of narrative and expository text, and influence what learners remember. 3.Text themes are not equally salient in the emotional arousal they evoke in learners, and graphics influence thematic text comprehension differently relative to that arousal.

3. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Preliminary Concepts: Decorative Graphics Graphical CategoryDefinition Interpretationalclarify difficult-to-understand material. Organizationalprovide a structural framework for the text content. Transformationalmnemonic in nature. Representationalliterally depict or overlap (part or all of) the text content. Decorative simply decorate the page, and bear little or no relationship to the text content. Levin, Anglin, and Carney (1987)

4. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Preliminary Concepts: Theme  The main overarching idea or concept behind a piece of work.  It may be either stated outright or implied by an author.  It is the job of the reader to infer this overarching idea through thoughtful consideration and careful interpretation.  This consideration often takes the form of theorizing beyond the literal translation of the work, and deriving what the author or artist meant to convey by the arrangement of the work's elements.  In narrative and expository texts, the elements are typically combinations of words, phrases, and/or sentences, the aggregate of which give rise to the higher order idea.  In visually-based pieces of work, the elements are typically the nature of the subject material shown relative to the context in which the subject matter is referenced.

5. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Preliminary Concepts: Metaphor Source Domain The concept that is known by the learner CONCRETE The concept that the learner tries to understand ABSTRACT Correspondence Mapping Ground Happiness is a Journey

6. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Preliminary Concepts: Visual Metaphor A visual metaphor is a visual referent in which two visual concepts occupy the same semantic space, each of which is neither the other, but share a common ground in which the aggregate elements of one concept can be interpreted in terms of the aggregate elements of the other. The referent provides a viewer the capability of mapping a source domain onto a target domain by visual means through the homospatiality of physically noncomposable elements (Carroll, 1994).

7. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA The Function Graphic Text MetaphorMetaphorThemeTheme Comprehension

8. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Background to the Investigations  When graphics are paired with text, text comprehension is reliably improved. The finding is robust and well documented. (Schnotz & Bannert, 2003; Mayer, Hagerty & Mayer, 2005; Schwartz & Collins, 2008).  However, not all visualization graphics function in the same way, particularly when the graphics are intended to decorate a page.  In a meta-analytic review, Levin, Anglin, and Carney (1987) found weak to non-existent effect sizes for graphics used for decoration.  Elia, Gagatsis, and Demetriou (2007) found that graphics used principally for adornment fail to increase learners’ understanding of related tasks or deepen their comprehension of instructional material.  In a series of studies, we have demonstrated that decorative graphics serve more than the function of adornment, per se; instead, they function to convey information about the theme of accompanying text, and dictate what is learned. (Danielson, Schwartz, Krause & Lippman, 2010; Mortensen & Schwartz, 2009; Schwartz, Battinich, Lieb & Mortensen, 2008; Schwartz, Lieb, Battinich & Kuinke, 2007; Schwartz & Collins, 2008).

9. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Assumptions  Most textbooks use decorative graphics as visually interesting stimuli to make a page more interesting– and to sell books.  If they did not, they would not insert them into their textbooks, since it is more expensive with them, than without them.  We contend that all decorative graphics bear some thematic relationship to the text they accompany.  Indeed, when a graphic bears no thematic relation to a text, it is assumed that users would find the graphic confusing.

10. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Decorative Graphics Elucidate Text Theme  When a decorative graphic is a visual metaphor of text theme, the graphic has the potential to elucidate the text’s thematic elements. It does so because of its partial similarity to the text as a target (Wonzy, 1989).  The graphic provides a viewer the capability of mapping a source domain onto a target domain by visual means through the homospatiality of physically noncomposable elements (Carroll, 1994).  According to Schriver (1997), graphics metaphorically depicting theme help prepare learners for interpreting textual information by allowing the learners to predict the underlying text concepts. This is especially true in longer texts, which take significantly longer to process than a graphic.

11. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA In a series of Experiments: We wanted to know whether decorative graphics that are related to the content of a passage by theme influence what is learned from the passage. Specifically, we expected that the theme of a decorative graphic would : 1. Make some passage content more important than others. 2. Make important passage content more memorable. 3. Activate learners’ personal knowledge about the passage content.

12. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 1: The Influence of Decorative Graphics on Perspective

13. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA GraphicContext Experimental Passage Melancholy Dying Literal Graphic Theme Uplifting Growing Figurative W e all have experiences in relationships-- from the attachments we build with our parents to the platonic and romantic connections that emerge later in life. We develop these relationships which continue to grow from the time we are young until we are old. These relationships can range anywhere from friendly and supportive to love and romantic. It is these last types of relationships, romantic ones, in which we are interested below. Recent studies about romantic relationships have revealed a variety of interesting findings in regards to the way individuals perceive these romantic relationships. During the period in which two people enter a new relationship, there is typically an initial, exhilarating period when the couple engages in intense exploration and conversation. However, after the initial feeling of elation subsides, one or both of the individuals may find the relationship too constraining, or find the differences in personalities too inconsistent. Still couples often do seem to find the dynamics of the relationship well-suited to the extent that they pursue…

14. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 1: Findings  When a literal graphic showing an uplifting theme accompanied text, students remembered more positive information from the passage.  When a figurative graphic showing a melancholy theme accompanied text, students brought in less information from the text into their essays.  When a figurative graphic showing an uplifting theme accompanied text, students brought in more personal information into their essays.

15. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA  Males’ feelings at the time of the dissolution of their last relationship and their aesthetic judgment of the picture predicted 87% of the variance of the positive statements they included in their essay.  Females’ current satisfaction in their last relationship and their aesthetic judgment predicted 30% of the variance of the non-personal positive statements they included their essay. After viewing the melancholy graphic melancholy graphic.

16. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA After viewing the uplifting graphic uplifting graphic. Only females were influenced by the uplifting graphic: The more satisfied females were in their current relationship and the more beautiful they perceived the graphic, the less negative personal statements they included in their essay.

17. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 1: Conclusions  Decorative graphics influence the valence of information people remember from a text.  They influence what people think about when they read a text.  They influence what personal memories people mix with what they read.  People have a hard time telling the difference between what they read and what they bring from memory when they read.

18. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 1: Conclusions  Experiment 1 revealed that decorative graphics have the capacity to influence the emotional valence of text-based and personal material students remember.  However, the graphics were not evaluated against non-graphic or non- thematic graphics.  Experiment 2 was designed to make this comparison. In addition, an attempt was made to use metaphorical graphics to persuade individuals’ opinions on a highly sensitive and personal issue in the united states: whether schools should teach abstinence or promote safe sex.

19. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 2: The Influence of Decorative Graphics on Persuasion

20. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Individualist Perspective Collectivist Perspective Recent studies have shown that among developed nations, the US ranks the highest in adolescent pregnancies, births, and abortions. To deal with this problem among our youth, many school systems have adopted one of two different forms of sex education: abstinence or safe-sex programs. A key component of abstinence-only programs are that a person with moral standards must wait until marriage to engage in sexual activity. Proponents of abstinence programs argue that waiting until marriage shows a higher moral standard and a greater respect for one's partner. Promoters for safe-sex programs argue that it is ridiculous and dangerous to expect that simply telling a teenager not to have sex will be effective. They argue that teenagers, and people in general, are naturally prone to be curious and interested in sex, and suppressing those natural instincts could cause more harm than help.

21. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 2: Findings  The 3 decorative graphics did not differentially persuade students to change their position on methods of sex education in the US.  They did influence students to use more evidence from the passage to endorse safe sex– if the students were collectivist thinkers and viewed the romantic graphic.  They also influenced students to provide more evidence of physical relationships to support their position on safe sex-- if the students were individualist thinkers and viewed the erotic graphic.

22. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 2: Conclusions  Decorative graphics do not influence students position on an issue for which they have strong beliefs.  Decorative graphics do influence the type of information students use as evidence to support their position on an issue, but the influence depends on whether the students think more individualistically or collectively.

23. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 2: Conclusions  Experiment 2 revealed that decorative graphics differentially influence the type of information students remember from text and summon from prior knowledge to support a personal position on an issue.  However, neither experiment 1 nor 2 contrasted a decorative graphic having no intended metaphorical relationship, with a decorative graphic which is metaphorical in nature. Study 3 was designed address this question.  Would a graphic that is a visual metaphor for the themes underlying a text differentially highlight text content?  In addition, qualitative interviews conducted after experiment 2 indicated that many participants remembered the graphic days later. Thus, a one- week delay condition was added to experiment 3 in order to determine what effect, if any, a metaphorical graphic, would have on the preservation of knowledge over time.

24. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 3: The Influence of Decorative Graphics on Narrative Text Theme

25. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went to Madrid. 'What should we drink?' the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table. 'It's pretty hot,' the man said. 'Let's drink beer.‘ 'Dos cervezas,' the man said into the curtain. 'Big ones?' a woman asked from the doorway. 'Yes. Two big ones.' NONE Literal Metaphoric Literal Thematic 60% dialog between a man and woman 4 Themes: (Choice, Male/female inequity ) Graphic Text

26. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 3: Findings

27. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Literal Comprehension Literal Comprehension at Immediate Testing and One Week Delay Type of Decorative Graphic

28. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Theme Comprehension Theme Comprehension at Immediate Testing and One Week Delay Mean Theme Value (0 – 3)

29. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 3: Findings  The metaphorical graphic showed no value in helping learners remember the literal level of the narrative a week later. In fact, the drop was 28% greater than the control.  The literal graphic preserved 93% of learners’ memory of the literal level of the story-- for a full week.  However, the metaphorical graphic influenced learners’ capacity to derive the underlying theme from the narrative-- but only if the graphic was a visual metaphor of the text’s theme.  A full week after reading the text, the metaphorical graphic preserved 93% of the minor theme, and nearly doubled (187%) learners’ capacity to derive the major theme.

30. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 3: Conclusions  Decorative graphics are not benign in their influence of text comprehension-- either at the literal level or the thematic level of a story when they are visual metaphors of text theme.  These graphics are not apparently valuable at immediate testing for literal levels of a story-- over no graphic at all.  However, when decorative graphics are metaphorical depictions of the theme of a text, the graphics drive what people remember about what they have read.  People apparently use the graphics to reconstruct the underlying message of a text, making graphics influential in what they remember.

31. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 4: The Influence of Decorative Graphics on Expository Text Theme

32. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 4: An Introduction  In Experiment 4, we were interested in determining if a decorative graphic would influence students’ comprehension of the literal level of a story when the graphic has a high emotional arousal.  Since expository text typically has a weak, rather than strong theme, we wrote an expository text on the crisis in Darfur.  The subject matter of Darfur was chosen because it can be viewed either from the perspective of civil war or genocide.  The passage was written to highlight the current political conflict in the region of Darfur, ½ of the passage was simply neutral background facts, while ¼ highlighted the theme of genocide, the remaining ¼ highlighted the theme of civil war.  The graphics were created to be as similar in composition as possible, while still evoking their intended metaphors while not evoking other metaphors.

33. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA NONE The conflict in Darfur started in early 2003 and has continued to persist despite efforts to bring peace. Darfur is a region in the west of Sudan located in northeastern Africa. There are roughly 200 tribes in Sudan with a variety of populations. Since Sudan gained its independence in 1956 there have been a number of riots because not all of the tribes coexist peacefully. There is a common misunderstanding that being Arabic is a nationality, but it is actually considered an ethnicity. There are a number of cultural differences between the Sudanese government and some Darfurians. There are two main groups within Darfur; one of which claims an “Arab” descent that tends to be mostly semi-nomadic livestock herders, and the other group claims a black “African” descent composed of those who primarily practice sedentary agriculture. The conflict is much more based on ethnicity rather than about nationality or religion. Although the conflict supposedly ended in February 2009 with a peace agreement between both fighting factions (rebels and the Sudanese government), inhabitants are still fearful for their safety. In the past, the Sudanese government has made racist remarks towards Darfurians with an African cultural background. Sudanese officials have been accused of tampering with evidence, such as attempting to cover up mass graves. Journalists within Darfur have also claimed that the government has been trying to hide their reports on activity in the region. Two of the major Darfurian rebel groups are the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice Darfur: A Region in Sudan

34. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 4: Findings

35. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Experiment 4: Conclusion  Students brought in significantly more idea units from the text into their essays when viewing the graphic that was a visual metaphor of genocide.  Students did not bring in significantly more of one type of text idea unit over the other– civil war or genocide– into their essay relative to the graphic they saw.  The emotionally arousing issue of genocide represented in the genocide graphic influenced what students remembered from the text about the issue of Darfur.

36. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Four Experiments: What We Have Learned  Decorative graphics have the capacity to influence the emotional valence of text-based and personal material students remember.  The graphics influence what personal memories people mix with what they read.  They do not appear to influence students’ position on an issue for which they have strong beliefs. But, they do influence the type of information students use as evidence to support their position on an issue.  Decorative graphics are not benign in their influence of text comprehension-- either at the literal level or the thematic level of a story when they are visual metaphors of a text’s theme.  Indeed, when decorative graphics are metaphorical depictions of text theme, they apparently drive what people remember about what they have read. They appear to be used by students to reconstruct the underlying message of a text– well after initial learning.  Even in the presence of expository text, when a decorative graphic is a visual metaphor for an emotionally salient theme, the graphic appears to enhance what students remember from the text.

37. LCIG Research Lab Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico USA Thank you for your time and attention. nschwartz@csuchico.edu http://www.csuchico.edu/~nschwartz