2: Graphics in Texts

Abstract

To the scientific mind it is most annoying to have to deal with phenomena that cannot be formulated in a way that is satisfactory to intellect and logic.Carl Jung INTRODUCTIONThe purpose of this review is to summarize what is known about the effective use of graphic devices in texts and other instructional materials. Information about graphic devices comes mainly from two sources: the experience of skilled graphic communicators and the formal laboratory experiments of applied psychologists. Both these sources have been consulted for this review. To keep it to a reasonable length I discuss what I think are the central issues and leave other questions untouched. It may be useful for researchers to consult the recent bibliography by Macdonald-Ross and Smith (1977), which lists all the relevant research known to me as I write this review.Graphic devices have been invented by humans to help represent, explain, and control the world in which they live. Ordinary language (verbal and gestural) is our primary means of communication, but there are many tasks for which it is ill-suited. We cannot do without mathematical and musical notations, scientific diagrams, tables, and maps. Some such systems of representation are essential to us, as they have been to all civilized cultures since LAWRENCE T. FRASE, National Institute of Education, and GEORGE R. KLARE, Ohio University, were the editorial consultants for this chapter. I would like to thank Professor Brian Lewis and Dr. Tom Sticht for their helpful suggestions. 49 at UNIV OF PITTSBURGH on June 19, 2015 http://rre.aera.net Downloaded from 50 Review of Research in Education, 5the first city-states. The relationship between language and graphics is complex and subtle; it deserves much more attention from scholars than it has so far received. Gombrich (1972) has spelled out some of the basic issues, and the broad history of graphic communication is given in Hogben (1949).The first sentence of this review introduced some key terms that need clarification: texts, graphic devices, and effective use. A text is a printed or written book or document: marks on paper. The interest lies in what is being said (the content), how it is interpreted and used by readers, and how the organization of the content affects the reader. Thus this review deals with a matter of great general interest (how we communicate information to each other) in a special setting (the printed text and its reader). Much of the review also applies, with certain qualifications, to other media such as film, television, and computer graphics, though these connections will not be spelled out explicitly.The term graphics is not exact, but it is still the best word to describe alternatives to prose. In this review graphics is meant to exclude ordinary language and its derivatives (such as poetry and Basic English). Also this review does not deal with decorative illustration, fine art, or advertisements. Many of the graphic devices dealt with here are pleasing to the eye, and no doubt this does help to attract attention...

The use of graphics in promoting management ideas

“… Serving multiple purposes . Graphics can be used to help explain and illustrate, serving a number of purposes, such as:explanatory purpose: to show logical relationships between key ideas;operational purpose: to help perform well‐specified task;data display purpose: to display the results of empirical observations; andiconic purpose: to show what an object looks like, and to identify and label key parts (Macdonald‐Ross, 1977, p. 70). In summary, this paper is concerned with the role of graphics in promoting management innovations.…”

“…iconic purpose: to show what an object looks like, and to identify and label key parts (Macdonald‐Ross, 1977, p. 70).…”

“…For further details regarding the characteristics of and distinctions among these categories, see Lohse et al (1994), Macdonald‐Ross (1977), Cleveland (1984), Krohn (1991), Kosslyn (1989), and Rankin (1990).…”

“…Graphics refer to conceptual displays of information through numerical, spatial and temporal data, and include graphs, charts, and diagrams (Macdonald‐Ross, 1977)[1]. Graphism, the “expression of thought in material symbols” (Latour, 1990) has been seen to play a significant role in the promotion of science in the social studies of science literature (Lynch, 1990).…”