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This study set out to investigate the role of pictograms in conveying consumer safety information. The experimental work was carried out in two parts. The first part investigated UK comprehension levels of 13 product related pictograms. A new method of judging levels of comprehension of the pictograms was developed. In general the pictograms surveyed were found to be poorly understood, particularly those which were abstract in nature. The second part of the research investigated the effect of different warning styles on noticeability and intended compliance. This was tested using the new European Standard pictogram developed to convey the small parts ...

To understand how readers approach mechanical procedural instructions, this study tested surgical patient-education modules for the effectiveness of route and survey spatial perspectives in text. The results showed that subjects' ability to comprehend an intricate procedural action in surgery varies with learning styles and task approach along with different text-graphic perspectives. Overall, survey perspective worked better than route perspective in text. Readers' self-reporting of task difficulty and the effects of practicing did not notably affect their judgment. ...

Background: Patients’ ability to understand information about medication is crucial for safety and effectiveness. Rates of illiteracy worldwide indicate that written information alone cannot meet many patients’ needs. Medication pictograms are an alternative, but may be culturally sensitive. Previous testing has used large pictograms, which are impractical for conventional drug information formats. Objective To compare 2 sets of pictograms for instructions or warnings (from the US and South Africa) for understandability by adults in the UK and examine the effects of pictogram size and repeat presentation on understandability among older adults. Methods In the first part of the study, 160 adults (aged 17–83 y) reviewed and interpreted ...

Background Patients’ ability to understand information about medication is crucial for safety and effectiveness. Rates of illiteracy worldwide indicate that written information alone cannot meet many patients’ needs. Medication pictograms are an alternative, but may be culturally sensitive. Previous testing has used large pictograms, which are impractical for conventional drug information formats. Objective To compare 2 sets of pictograms for instructions or warnings (from the US and South Africa) for understandability by adults in the UK and examine the effects of pictogram size and repeat presentation on understandability among older adults. Methods In the first part of the study, 160 adults (aged 17–83 y) reviewed ...

A key task for students learning about a complex topic from multiple documents on the web is to establish the existing rhetorical relations between the documents. Traditional search engines such as Google display the search results in a listed format, without signalling any relationship between the documents retrieved. New search engines such as Kartoo go a step further, displaying the results as a constellation of documents, in which the existing relations between pages are made explicit. This presentation format is based on previous studies of single-text comprehension, which demonstrate that providing a graphical overview of the text contents and their ...

In 2 experiments, the effects of review occasion (immediate vs. delayed) and study materials (text alone vs. text plus outlines vs. text plus graphic organizers) on students' application of concepts were investigated. Undergraduates studied 1 of the 3 sets of study materials, reviewed them immediately or 2 days later, and then were tested. In both experiments, delayed review facilitated application performance for the students who viewed text plus graphic organizers but not for those who viewed only text or text plus outlines. The students who delayed their review of graphic organizers were more likely to report using nonmemorization study strategies ...

This study looks at the effects of 2 comprehension strategies, perusing text relevant illustrations and invoking mental images, on the reading comprehension of adult readers: juniors and seniors in a university teacher education program were asked to read and respond to an African folk tale. Ss were randomly assigned to 4 treatment conditions: imagery and illustrations, imagery only, illustrations only, or control. Results suggest that prompting adults to induce mental imagery or attend to illustrations does not enhance their reading comprehension and recall more than simply prompting them to remember ...

This research examined the effects of several versions of capital penalty phase instructions on juror comprehension. Study One documented the impact of California's recently implemented 'plain language' instruction. It showed that although the new instruction has clear advantages over the previous version, significant comprehension problems remain. Study Two evaluated several modified instructions designed to enhance comprehension. Participants heard either a standard patterned instruction or one of two alternatives, a psycholinguistically improved instruction, or a 'pinpoint' instruction using case-related facts to illustrate key terms in a simulated death penalty sentencing phase. Persons who heard modified instructions demonstrated higher levels of comprehension ...

This research examined the effects of several versions of capital penalty phase instructions on juror comprehension. Study One documented the impact of California's recently implemented 'plain language' instruction. It showed that although the new instruction has clear advantages over the previous version, significant comprehension problems remain. Study Two evaluated several modified instructions designed to enhance comprehension. Participants heard either a standard patterned instruction or one of two alternatives, a psycholinguistically improved instruction, or a 'pinpoint' instruction using case-related facts to illustrate key terms in a simulated death penalty sentencing phase. Persons who heard modified instructions demonstrated higher levels of comprehension ...

This article examines the effects of headings, previews, and logical connectives on readers and their comprehension of technical expository prose. Results from two related experiments suggest that previews produce significant effects on literal and inferential comprehension while the other two signal types do not. Results are discussed in light of previous research and suggestions for future research are given. ...