5. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall Three score men and three score more Can’t put Humpty Dumpty as he was before (Opie, 1999). Parrish 1921 Aliquis Fecit (1843)
6. Visual Literacy The ability to both find and create images, use them to communicate ideas and solve problems, and understand their aesthetic, instructive, and cultural value.
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11. 1. Water 2. Over-fishing 3. Predatory-Prey http://site.arbico-organics.com/images/japanese-beetle-lifecycle.jpg
Blue pollen spores, nerve cells, marine worms, brittle starfish larvae Given that the brain devotes 30% to 40% of its prime cortical real estate to vision we can certainly imagine that the “visual brain” is a smart one even if (or perhaps because) it doesn‟t give in to coercion from the rest of the brain.
750 Book of Kells produced by irish monks - their masterwork: the four Gospels of the Christian faith Probably the best known of all the Book of Kells' 680 vellum pages is the "Chi-Rho" page, introducing Matthew's account of Christ's birth. Three Greek letters dominate the page: chi (X), rho (P), and iota (I)--shorthand for "Christ." amous Chi-Rho page from the Book of Kells. Spend time looking at it. See how much you can find. Can you find cats feeding kittens? Do you find angels? What about a moth or butterfly? This page marks the incipit or beginning of the 18 verse of Matthew I. The text reads: "XPI autem generatio...." The text of this verse in the Douay Rheims translation reads: Now the generation of Christ was in this wise.When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Like other Hiberno-Saxon gospel books, notably the Lindisfarne Gospels, this text is given prominence. It almost serves as a second incipit for the Book of Matthew which begins with the Latin incipit: "Liber generationis Iesu Christi..." or in the Douay Rheims translation: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham...." The reason for this prominence can be connected to the importance of the doctrine of the "Incarnation," which literally means "into flesh." The first 17 verses of the book of of Matthew recounts the earthly ancestry of Christ back to Abraham, while verse 18 marks the point of the Incarnation of Christ in the book of Matthew, the first of the Gospels in the manuscript. Remember that the text of the manuscript is written on parchment or animal skin. So that this page is literally "the word made flesh," echoing the beginning of the book of John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Title “The treachery of Images”, Rene Magritte here comments on the process of representation. One could argue, for example, that Magritte is making a joke, that of course it is an image . But he’s also commenting on the relationship between words and things , since this is not a pipe but a representation of a pipe—a painting, not the material object itself. He warns us not to mistake this for the real thing. He helps us reflect how words and images produce meaning in our world—something that we usually take for granted. He shows us the complexity of how words and images produce meaning in our world.
Do systems of representation reflect the world as it is or do we in fact construct the world and its meaning through the systems of representation we use? Roland Barthes has discussed how images have at least two levels of meaning: -- denotative , where an image can denote certain apparent truths through its literal, descriptive meaning; -- connotative , where culturally specific meanings apply—the cultural and historic contexts, for example, of the image and its viewers’ experiences and understandings—all that an image means personally and socially. Throughout history, debates have raged about whether these systems of representation reflect the world as it is—such that they mirror it back to us as a form of imitation , or whether in fact we construct the world and its meaning through the systems of representation we use. In this latter approach, we only make meaning of the material world through specific cultural contexts, and that the world is not simply a reflection to us but rather made meaningful by us through these systems. Questions? But sometimes, we get a little confused whether we’re talking about reflection or representation. This painting seems mere reflection, right? But what in the painting might suggest representation? The transience of earthly life through the transient nature of food? Bread, wine, and fish? This painting produces meaning about these objects rather than simply reflecting some meaning.
Comparison to rhyme suggests how a unified conventional image interrupts interpretation. In other words the meaning has Been set by illustrators. But when illustrators lean on conventional images readers lose opportunities to interpret. Over time the egg illustration has become so ‘real’ that it has brought the relation between picture and text back to the symmetrical. That is, today we m But when conventional forms lead to unpredicted effects, we are in a position to make a choice: either a. to reject the convention and work against it or, b. to acknowledge the convention and move on to interpretation and critique. The former option is more revolutionary. Rejecting the image outright would be an appropriate decision in liberation pedagogy (Freire, 1970), where readers examine media for complicity in oppression. It is difficult to imagine an all-out campaign against an innocuous image such as Humpty Dumpty, but in a critical curriculum where traditional visuals are questioned there is no reason why this one should be an exception. The latter option is more accepting of Humpty ight just as easily argue that the text mirrors the picture and not the other way around. 43) Oxford English Dictionary (1989) helps us trace the first printed use of the words “Humpty Dumpty” back into the 1600s, when it described a mixed drink of brandy and ale. Historical illustrations also aid the challenge. The egg-man’s conventionality harks to John Tenniel’s illustrations for Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Glass (1872) but does not become solid until Maxfield Parrish (1897; 1921) ‘quoted’ key elements of Tenniel’s picture for his famous magazine illustrations (Figure 1 and Figure 2). Parrish’s mass appeal was part of a national hysteria surrounding illustrators at the time (Eisenstat, 1984), and from his pictures to the present, there seems to be almost no looking back.
Goal: not only to motivate students but to make them critical consumers of information . Ques: How can we create critical consumers? Ques: What questions can we ask our students to facilitate this skill? Does the image tell the truth How representative is this image What is the source of this image What is the authors intent in using this image What does the context of the image tell us? Are we responding to emotional issues or content?
Goal: not only to motivate students but to make them critical consumers of information . Ques: How can we create critical consumers? Ques: What questions can we ask our students to facilitate this skill? Does the image tell the truth How representative is this image What is the source of this image What is the authors intent in using this image What does the context of the image tell us? Are we responding to emotional issues or content?
So why are we focusing on Visualization as a method for research and teaching? There is a strong association with visual skills and concept comprehension Research in the science and humanities points to a causal relationship between spatial-visual aptitude and scholastic success. Research suggests that students using diagrams generate more self-explanations, and consequently, learn more than students using text alone. Spatial-visual skills can be augmented through practice and training. These in turn can enhance learning
Ask audience to offer concepts, thoughts, ideas, other images that this visual stimulates. Visuals can promote conjuring of additional information by (mental imaging) and can scaffold concepts using the existing knowledge. Visual bookmarking or mental imaging – visuals can be used to reference information from memory gained through text or auditory presentation. Enables memory recall. Dual Coding Theory – Pavio: theory assumes that there are two cognitive subsystems, one specialized for the representation and processing of nonverbal objects/events (i.e., imagery), and the other specialized for dealing with language. Recall/recognition is enhanced by presenting information in both visual and verbal form. Flexibility Theory – Spiro: ability to spontaneously restructure one's knowledge, in many ways, in adaptive response to radically changing situational demands . Learning activities should provide multiple representations of content – to enable knowledge construction. Example of analogy enhance learning. Analogies are used to transfer ideas from a familiar concept to an unfamiliar one
Visuals present array of information simultaneously rather than sequentially – thus less memory demand for comprehension. “ Learning is context dependent, with the associated need to provide multiple representations and varied examples so as to promote generalization and abstraction processes.” This goes to Flexibility Theory. Research in the science and humanities points to a causal relationship between spatial-visual aptitude and scholastic success. Research suggests that students using diagrams generate more self-explanations, and consequently, learn more than students using text alone. Spatial-visual skills can be augmented through practice and training. These in turn can enhance learning Visuals: 1. present array of info simultaneously vs. sequentially – thus less memory demand for comprehension. 2. can promote conjuring of additional information (mental imaging) 3. can evoke emotional responses and be misleading Note: Goal – student motivation in learning. Students must be stimulated in as great a variety of ways as possible to develop their thought processes and problem-solving techniques.
Multiple representations goes to cognitive flexibility theory - For example, Figure 5, a pictorial diagram that shows the blood flow through the heart, is a visual model of the heart’s anatomy. In contrast, Figure 6 is an organizational diagram that is arranged semantically (as a causal chain) and is therefore not in the shape of an anatomically correct heart. However, both convey the same kinds of information. Present both types of diagrams to students (you can use diagrams from the subject area that you teach rather than heart diagrams) and ask students to find the similarities and differences between the two representations.
Visualization can be used to address issues of scale, quantity, and relevance more effectively than numerical text. Depicts one million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the US every six hours. Running the Numbers An American Self-Portrait This series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 410,000 paper cups used every fifteen minutes. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. The underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming. My only caveat about this series is that the prints must be seen in person to be experienced the way they are intended. As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so. The series is a work in progress, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned. ~chris jordan, Seattle, 2007
Can obfuscate information via. emotional baiting, illusion, poor design What gives this image its power as a communication tool? Context etc. 2. How might such images be used to mislead a viewer? Real questions: why and how do emotional images enhance learning? Two approaches, not mutually exclusive, can help explain this. The first comes from physiological theory , which suggests that the adrenaline release evoked by an emotional stimulus helps forge the neural pathways that underlie memories. The second comes from a cognitive perspective , which would predict that the emotional images “set the stage” for the related text, creating a strong association between an emotionally charged, and thus memorable, image and related concepts from the text, making those textual concepts more accessible. The more links a piece of information has to other pieces of information in memory, the better the chances that that information will be accessible. Think of this as facilitating more alternative pathways to a given point.
the famous Bob Adelman picture of a Birmingham fireman aiming a water hose powerful enough to tear bark off trees at civil rights protesters perhaps prompted a student to call to mind a number of things (for example, conversations about and experiences with race , movies about the 1960s or the civil rights movement, music, experiences with injustice, etc.).
Niels Bohr 's model of the atom made an analogy between the atom and the solar system . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy Example of analogy enhance learning. Analogies are used to transfer ideas from a familiar concept to an unfamiliar one Where and when do analogies become misleading.
Appropriate Pedagogy? Microcosm, Macrocosm This image comparison, first featured in The New York Times , definitely gives one something to think about. On the left is a microscopic image of a mouse brain's neuronal network produced by Mark N. Miller of Brandeis University's Nelson Lab. On the right is the Max Planck Institute's computer simulation of the vast dark matter network (purple) connecting visible-matter galaxies (yellow) across the universe. “Together,” observes New York Times journalist David Constantine, “ they suggest the surprisingly similar patterns found in vastly different natural phenomena.”
The movie above illustrates a visualisation of N02 in London by CASA, University College London,in association with the Environmental Research Group at Kings College London. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2): NO2 is produced in high temperature combustions processes and chemical reactions in the atmosphere. Road transport is responsible for 60 per cent of emissions of NOx (the pollutant that causes NO2) in London. It can affect the lungs and airways when exposed over long periods or at high concentrations over a short period.
Scale – Introducing scale in terms of size Systems – drawing linkages between material and process Artistic rendition of the circulatory system. Use of perspective to draw in the viewer. *** Is this image problematic. For example it presents and inverse representation of spatial scale.
August 2006 – photo of Beirut air-strike that was digitally manipulated by Adnon Hajj and then submitted to Reuters. The image, which appeared on several news web sites, had been doctored in Adobe Photoshop to show more smoke billowing higher into the sky.
From Mellenial Learners paper: Brumbreger 2011 Figure 5 . Bitterroot National Forest, Montana. Photo courtesy of John McColgan, Alaska Forest Service. (2000). Available at http:// earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=843. Well over three-quarters (80%) of respondents indicated that the image had probably or definitely been altered. However, what is most interesting is not that respondents thought the image was altered, but their reasons for thinking it. By far the most commonly cited explanation for this belief was the color and lighting in the photo. Respondents repeatedly indicated that the colors were just too vivid and the contrasts too strong; they felt the lighting was too dramatic to be realistic. Additionally, many respondents simply said that the image did not look real or that it looked like a computer graphic or a scene from a video game, without explaining these statements further.
Figure 6. False Color Composite Satellite Image of Fairfax County. Courtesy of the Chesapeake Bay from Space Program. Available at http:// www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/sols/schoolTrees/fairfaxsatalite/fairfaximagemaps. htm. In fact, fewer respondents—two-thirds (66%)—said the image was probably or definitely altered. Not surprisingly, the explanation those respondents gave was that the colors were artificial and overly vivid or intense for the subject matter, which the majority recognized as some sort of satellite image. Interestingly, among the one-third (34%) of respondents who thought the image was probably or definitely not altered, many noted that they recognized the image type (though some described it as a weather radar image). However, they questioned why anyone would alter this type of image and indicated that it looked “real.” Several respondents said it was a map and made statements like this one: “Maps don’t really need much editing.”
This image comparison speaks to how we interpret information relative to context. The image on the right speaks of empowerment. The image on the left speaks of subjugation.
This image illustrates the importance of symbols to knowledge construction or information interpretation. Symbols can mislead our interpretation in other cultural or environmentals contexts. This slide can be used to discuss the importance of symbols and their cultural origin. When I saw these posters (and the hundreds like them for every other candidate) I thought they were "[NO] Belusconi" signs. What they mean in American is "Check this box on election day!"
TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences Vol.11 No.12 How do we develop object knowledge and memory from visual information? The effects of context Early studies have shown that context has effects at multiple levels: semantic (e.g. a table and chair are probably present in the same images, whereas an elephant and a bed are not), spatial configuration (e.g. a keyboard is expected to be below a monitor), and pose (e.g. chairs are oriented towards the table, a pen should have a particular pose relative to the paper to be useful for writing and a car will be oriented along the driving directions of a street). Hock et al. [17] and Biederman and collaborators [2] observed that both semantic (object presence, position and size) and physical (consistent support and interposition with other objects) object–scene relationships have an impact on the detection of a target object within the temporal window of a glance (<200 ms). These contextual relationships can have different strengths: a plate is expected to be on top of the table, but other locations are also possible, such as being on a shelf or wall; and a fire hydrant will always be on top of the sidewalk, not below the ground plane or floating in the air. Object recognition should be more accurate if the relationship between the context and the object is strong (Figure 2) and decrease as the strength of the object–scene relationship decreases. This photo goes to visual cognition. Understanding scenes from a top-down rather than bottom up perspective. We create statistical scans in a preattentive context. The car/person are actually the same – just rotated 90 degrees. We fill in features based on environmental conditioning and experience.
P Cavanaugh, Vision Research, 2011 Ambiguous figure (from Rock, 1984). These amorphous shapes in white on black have very little information and yet they connect to object knowledge about human form. This recovers the possible shape of a woman sitting on a bench. No bottom up analysis can recover either of these elements no other image analysis based on parts or surfaces can work as shadow regions have broken the real object parts into accidental islands of black or white.
This visual imparts the importance of pattern recognition in our ability to decode information and draw meaning from it. We interpret the world via. common patterns that we recognize at a subconscious level. When new patterns of information display are used they can lead to confusion or misunderstanding. Illusions often created by novel pattern displays. Below are what might appear as blobs of color when you first look at them. Your impression of the color blobs provides an example of awareness at a sensory level. If you continue to look at the blobs, four english words will emerge. You needn't try to organize the blobs. The organization process will occur without any overt striving on your part. These blobs have been created to slow the perceptual process so that you can experience what typically occurs speedily in subjective time. From http://dragon.uml.edu/psych/organize.html
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/05/27/pareidolia/ Recent studies indicate the human brain comes pre-programmed to process right side up faces. The upside down ones? Pareidolia.
Object recognition is both fluid and hierarchical Different ways of subjectively organizing the scene can lead to different ‘objects’ (Fig. 2c). This phenomenon, beautifully illustrated by a multistable figure due to Marroquin (Fig. 4), epitomizes the subjective nature of object organization. The objects in Marroquin’s figure are not ‘real’; they are ephemeral elements of our interpretation – I would argue, disjoint regular subtrees fluidly changing as the overall tree is continually reorganized. The same is equally true for everyday objects like chairs and pencils, no matter how stable their interpretation trees are by contrast. (1) Objects are the units of our perceived physical world – spatially coherent bundles of visual stuff (the sense of ‘ object’ explored in this article); (2) Objects are the units of our ontology – the things we think of as having independent existence, properties, and attributes; (3) Objects are the units of mental dynamics – the things we think of as having fixed existence in a world that changes over time. These three senses of ‘object’ are substantially logically independent from each other.
