Slides from a presentation co-authored with Anne-Sophie Collard, given at CICOM'2009 (Communication, Cognition and Media: Communication Sciences International Congress - Catholic University of Portugal, Braga, Portugal - September 23-25, 2009)

1. A Model of the Role of Conceptual Metaphors in Hypermedia Comprehension Anne-Sophie Collard, Pierre Fastrez Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium

2. Metaphors in hypermedia: context We understand the way we interact with hypermedia through metaphor The very notion of "navigation" implies an underlying spatial metaphor (Edwards & Hardman 1989, Panurak 1989, Dillon, McKnight et Richardson 1990, Dieberger 1994, Kim & Hirtle 1995) Numerous hypermedia interfaces reproduce familiar objects or locations to facilitate their use E.g.: virtual campuses, websites for kids…) “Spatial hypertext” has been advocated as a means to facilitate navigation(Marshall & Shipman 1995; Dieberger 1995) A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 2 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

3. An example of hypermedia using an explicit (city) metaphor

4. Metaphors in hypermedia: context Metaphors are often recognized as a means to facilitate hypermedia navigation… … but their effect is seldom explained. We propose a theoretical framework based on conceptual metaphor theory (or CMT, Lakoff & Johnson) and blending theory (or BT, Fauconnier & Turner) to explain the role metaphor plays, as a cognitive tool, in hypermedia comprehension A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 4 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

5. Outline Theoretical foundations: metaphors and conceptual blending Our proposal : a three-layer model The model in the course of navigation Conclusions and future work A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 5 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

6. Metaphor as a cognitive tool CMT(Lakoff & Johnson 1980, 1999) considers metaphors as: cognitive tools, not literary style figures a means of understanding abstract concepts in terms of more concrete ones involving the mapping of image-schematic structure from a source experience domain to a target experience domain E.g.: DISCUSSION IS WAR A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 6 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

7. Metaphor as a cognitive tool Metaphorical mappings are partial but systematic highlight some aspects of the target, but hide others are organized hierarchically: elaborate high-level structural metaphors inherit mappings from lower-level (e.g. ontological or orientation) metaphors A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 7 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

8. Conceptual integration networks Conceptual blending: a basic and ubiquitous cognitive operation that accounts for many aspects of human imagination (Turner 2002) involves the construction and manipulation of a conceptual integration network A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 8 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

9. Conceptual integration networks Mental spaces in the network: Input spaces, generic space, and blend Cross-space mapping between input spaces and selective projection into the blend Composition, completion and elaboration A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 9

10. Conceptual integration networks Conceptual metaphors can be described and analyzed in terms of blends E.g. “this surgeon is a butcher” We will analyze the metaphors underlying hypermedia use and comprehension using BT terminology and notation A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 10

11. A three-layer model Based on empirical research on factors influencing knowledge construction through hypermedia use Factors = Hypermedia structure (Fastrez 2002, 2005) Metaphors in hypermedia interfaces (Collard 2009) A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 11 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

12. A three-layer model Focus on the construction of the mental model of a hypermedia This model integrates, through multiple metaphorical projections, different items from distinct mental spaces These projections are organized in a hierarchical structure i.e.: the higher-level mappings inherit the structure of lower-level projections This structure includes three levels, or “layers” A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 12 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

13. 1 | Primary metaphors Pervasive orientation and ontological metaphors Source domain: our experience of space A dual metaphor Motion through space Pages and sections are CONTAINERS connected by PATHS Egocentric or exocentric orientation Object manipulation Pages and sections are nested CONTAINERS opened by the user A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 13 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

14. 1 | Primary metaphors Documented for the web by Matlock & Maglio 1996, Maglio & Matlock 1998, 2003 Documented for off-line hypermedia by Fastrez 2002 A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 14 Target: Action of subject (S) on document (D) Target: State of S with respect to D

15. 1 | Primary metaphors Documented for the web by Matlock & Maglio 1996, Maglio & Matlock 1998, 2003 Documented for off-line hypermedia by Fastrez 2002 A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 15 Target: Processing of information (I) by subject (S)

16. 2 | Generic metaphors Conventional structural metaphors Hypermedia as a typical media format “To me, a website is like a…” Source concepts (Collard 2009): Book (page, chapter, title…) Library (entrance, floor…) Tree Spider web … A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 16 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

17. 3 | Specific metaphors A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 17 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 Specific hypermedia rely on specific metaphors Specific metaphors provide additional structure to generic metaphors Example: « Biblio » Library > floors > aisles > books > chapters

18. 3 | Specific metaphors A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 18 The source domain of a specific metaphor can structure a hyperdocument at the physical and at the semantic level

19. Biblio, Texto, and HyperDoc A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 19

20. Biblio ‘entrance’ page Hypermediaticmetaphor, with the library as a source A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 20

21. Biblio ‘floor’ page Hypermediaticmetaphor, with the library as a source A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 21

22. Biblio ‘aisle’ page Hypermediaticmetaphor, with the library as a source A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 22

23. Biblio ‘book’ page Hypermediaticmetaphor, with the library as a source A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 23

24. Texto homepage Hypertextualmetaphor, with the library as a source A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 24

25. Texto main section page Hypertextualmetaphor, with the library as a source A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 25

26. Texto subsection page Hypertextualmetaphor, with the library as a source A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 26

27. Texto page Hypertextualmetaphor, with the library as a source A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 27

28. HyperDochomepage No specificmetaphor A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 28

29. HyperDoc main section page No specificmetaphor A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 29

30. HyperDocsubsection page No specificmetaphor A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 30

31. HyperDoc page No specificmetaphor A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 31

32. 3 | Specific metaphors Specific metaphors, when explicit (i.e. interfacial), tend to determine what generic metaphor is used to make sense of the hyperdocument A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 32 Answers to the question « To me, thiswebsiteisbuiltlike a… » χ2 = 32.58 ; p < 0.001

33. The whole picture Each layer in the network inherits structure from the previous layer The blend includes the user not just a metaphor of the hypermedia itself Cf. dual primary spatial metaphor Simplified examples: Visiting this library Browsing this book A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 33 Bodily experience of space Hypermedia Motion through space Building Navigation in a building This library Visiting this library

34. The whole picture Each layer in the network inherits structure from the previous layer The blend includes the user not just a metaphor of the hypermedia itself Cf. dual primary spatial metaphor Simplified examples: Visiting this library Browsing this book A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 34 Bodily experience of space Hypermedia Object Mani-pulation Document Document browsing This book Browsing this book

35. The whole picture The network is seldom unified and coherent Rather, it is a patchwork of blends constructed opportunistically within context Both primary metaphors (navigation and manipulation) are often used by the same users The same ‘source’ input spaces can be mapped to different ‘target’ spaces depending on context Hyperdocument structure, contents, or both Targets from different layers E.g. webpage vs. library book page… A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 35 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

36. The whole picture Generic webpage metaphor (subject from Biblio condition) « Il y avait la porte d'entrée, je suis rentré dedans, je suis arrivé sur heu, oui, la page où il y avait, je pense que c'était l'accueil. Et il y avait les trois, les différents étages où je pouvais aller. Voilà, là j'ai été au premier étage. » Specific library book page metaphor (same subject) « Je sais pas si c'était dans cet étage-là où il y avait "physique", "télécommunication", 'fin bref en tout cas je suis rentr', j'ai cliqué sur un, sur une des options, et heu ben en fonction de là à nouveau j'avais des livres, j'ai cliqué sur un livre, et à nouveau j'avais une page qui s'ouvrait , les caractéristiques "page suivante" etc. (…) En tout cas il y avait une étagère avec plusieurs livres et il y avait le livre "Firewall" et j'ai cliqué dessus. Et voilà, c'était le livre où il y avait la plus petite explication, c'est pour ça que j'ai retenu. Et heu voilà, je pense c'est une ou deux pages et après on pouvait tout simplement fermer le livre. » A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 36 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

37. The whole picture Generic webpage metaphor (subject from Biblio condition) “There was the entrance door, I went in, I came onto… uh, yes, the page where there was, I think it was the reception. And there were the three, the different floors where I could go. Then I went to the first floor.” Specific library book page metaphor (same subject) “I don’t know if it was in that floor where there was « physics », « telecommunication », anyway in any case I went int’, I clicked on a, on one of the options and… uh well… in function of this again I had books, I clicked on a book, and again I had a page that opened, the properties ‘next page’, etc. (…) In any case, there was a shelf with several books and there was the ‘Firewall’ book and I clicked on it. And then, it was the book where there was the shortest explanation, that’s why I remembered. And uh… then, I think it’s one or two pages and then one could simply close the book.” A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 37 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

38. ‘Running the blend’ The conceptual integration network is built dynamically It can be modified in the course of navigation It can modify the course of navigation It can be modified by the course of navigation A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 38 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

39. ‘Running the blend’ The CIN can be modified in the course of navigation E.g. switching between navigation and manipulation in the library… Same interaction, different blend (source: Neisser 1976) A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009 39

40. ‘Running the blend’ The CIN can modify the course of navigation Example: browsing ‘books in the library’ Two specific navigation tools: table of contents Previous page / next page links Texto subjects tend to use the TOC more than Biblio subjects, as an alternative to the ‘previous/next’ links pTexto = 0.39 ; pBiblio = 0.09 ; p < 0;001 They interpret the ‘previous/next’ links as ‘back’ and ‘forward’ browser buttons, without relying on the book metaphor They are confused about how they work when they try them Biblio subjects are able to interpret these links within the context of the book metaphor A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 40 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

41. ‘Running the blend’ The CIN can be modified by the course of navigation Example: browsing ‘books in the library’ When Biblio subjects interpret the “previous-next” links outside of the book metaphor, their usage of these links prompt them to construct the appropriate metaphorical mapping A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 41 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

42. Conclusions and future work Different metaphors orient the user’s comprehension of hypermedia and of their interaction with it, depending on the way they are implemented and the way they are made explicit Metaphors impact navigation behavior, and therefore are likely to impact the way the user constructs knowledge through browsing. Future empirical work will explore: The specific effects of metaphors on navigation behavior The extent to which these effects impact contents understanding A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 42 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009

43. Thank you for your attention Questions? A.-S. Collard & P. Fastrez 43 CICOM’2009 – Sept 24th, 2009