The empirical investigation of factors affecting graphical visualization

An estimated 2.2 trillion graphs were published during 1994. These graphs used a multitude of different visual techniques in an effort to communicate information to a reader. Despite the many important applications for which graphs are used and the frequency of their use, little is known about what techniques make a graph most effective at communicating information to a reader. This paucity of knowledge stems largely from a dearth of empirical investigations pertaining to graphs. A major problem encountered by researchers who wish to undertake sound empirical research into the effectiveness of graphical presentations is the shortage of suitable tools. This article presents a computer software tool, Graphics Visualization, which offers the researcher an inexpensive yet accurate and reliable method of performing empirical research into factors that affect the accuracy and speed by which a reader can interpret data encoded within a graph.     

THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF TEACHER AND PEER ATTENTION ON THE DISRUPTIVE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR OF THREE CHILDREN WITH A DIAGNOSIS OF ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

We conducted functional analyses of classroom disruption during contingent teacher and peer attention conditions for 3 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Attention provided by peer confederates appeared to function as a distinct form of positive reinforcement for all 3 children.     

Are retailers fully prepared for the holiday shopping season?

Secret shoppers anonymously observed and rated 114 Chicagoland retailers during the 1991 end-of-year holiday shopping season. The raters assessed if the stores were clean, safe, and organized, and whether or not the employees and management provided a high-caliber of customer service. Statistical analyses showed that there were multiple opportunities for improvement in the areas of store organization, service management, employee productivity, and customers' overall feelings about the holiday shopping experience. It was also discovered that stores that were supervised by highly involved and enthused managers were better prepared for shoppers than were stores with no managers on the floor or else the managers were present yet they seem uninterested and uninvolved. Finally, stores that used multi-purpose employment tests appeared to be more prepared for shoppers than non-testing stores.     

A snapshot of autobiographical memory retrieval characteristics

This study attempts to replicate and extend the results of Burt (1992a), using more ecologically valid memory cues. Twenty-seven undergraduate students used 138 rolls of film over the 1992-3 summer vacation. The film produced approximately 4900 autobiographical photographs, which were categorized as to the nature of the cues (event information) they contained (e. g. activity, location, participant). A sample of the subject's autobiographical photographs, and a set of other individuals autobiographical photographs (autobiographical foils), were presented to each subject via a tachistoscope. The subjects were asked to indicate when they had retrieved the 'circumstances and associated context' surrounding the scene depicted in each photograph or had decided the latter was not possible. Differences in memory retrieval times were found between the foils and autobiographical photographs and across the cue categories. The results suggest that autobiographical event memory structures are formed around the most unique event attribute. Rehearsal of an event and occurrence of an experience within an extended event (e. g. a holiday) were also found to predict memory retrieval time.     

Arousal and the Bakan vigilance task: The effects of noise intensity and the presence of others

The joint effects of social setting and loud noise on task performance are examined. In a modified version of the Bakan vigilance task subjects were required to detect a sequence of two identical even digits and to report the two digits preceding the signal. Two types of acoustic environment were compared: loud noise at 90 dBC and quiet noise at 60 dBC. Two types of social setting were employed: “pair” where two subjects worked in the same room on similar tasks, and “single” where a subject performed the task alone. The effects of noise and the presence of another did not interact. Loud noise increased the speed of responses to signals early in the task. This effect is attributed to noise-induced arousal. There was a higher incidence of recall errors in pre-signal digits when subjects were in pairs. This effect is attributed to distraction. This research was part of a series of studies sponsored by the Social Science Research Council (Grant HR 5563 awarded to Dr. A.J. Chapman and Dr. D.M. Jones).