Abstract
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.
Highlights
Paintings of mythological, religious, historical, or contemporary events typically depict complex scenes of persons, objects, and settings which stand in a more or less close relation to each other
The present study examined the influence of the spatial distance between conceptually related picture elements and the textual coherence of their naming in a concurrent verbal description on visual processing and memory
Mean values lay in the expected direction but did not reach significant differences
Summary
Religious, historical, or contemporary events typically depict complex scenes of persons, objects, and settings which stand in a more or less close relation to each other. In Benjamin West’s painting "The Death of General Wolfe" from 1770, for example, the following picture elements are thematically closely related to each other: The painting depicts Henry Browne, a lieutenant of the grenadier regiment holding the British flag, and a hat lying far from him on the ground. This kind of hat was typically worn by grenadiers like him.
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