This study tested the differential effects of two different types of cuts (related and unrelated) on attention, capacity, and audio and visual memory for the information contained in television messages. Related cuts were related by either visual or audio information. Unrelated cuts occurred between two completely unrelated scenes. Unrelated cuts were always associated with a change in content. Related scenes were never associated with a change in content. Results showed that both related and unrelated cuts resulted in cardiac orienting responses. Reaction times were slower immediately following unrelated cuts than when following related cuts, indicating that processing unrelated cuts required more capacity than processing related cuts. Memory was better for information presented after related cuts than it was for information presented after unrelated cuts. This effect was greater for visual memory than for audio memory. These results add to the growing body of knowledge on how people process television.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allport, A.
(1989). Visual attention. In M. Posner (Ed.), Foundations of cognitive science (pp. 631-682). Cambridge: MIT Press.
2.
Anderson, D.
, & Levin, S. (1976). Young children's attention toSesame Street. Child Development, 47, 806-811.
3.
Anderson, D.
, & Lorch, E. P. (1983). Looking at television: Action or reaction. In J. Bryant & D. R. Anderson (Ed.), Children's understanding of television (pp. 1-34). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
4.
Broadbent, D.
(1982). Task combination and selective intake of information. Acta Psychologia, 50, 253-290.
5.
Collins, W.
(1982). Cognitive processing in television viewing. In D. Pearl, L. Bouthilet, & J. Lazar (Eds.), Television and behavior: Ten years of scientific progress and implications for the eighties: Vol. 2. Technical reviews (pp. 9-23). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
6.
Cook, E.
(1988). VPM 7.4 operation manual. Birmingham: University of Alabama, Department of Psychology.
7.
Geiger, S., & Reeves, B. (in press). The effects of cuts and semantic relatedness on attention to television. Communication Research.
8.
Gilbert, K.
, & Schleuder, J. (1990). Effects of color and complexity in still photographs on mental effort and memory. Journalism Quarterly, 67, 749-756.
9.
Jennings, J. R.
, Cohen, M., Ruchkin, D. S., & Fridlund, A. (1987). Editorial policy on analyses of variance with repeated measures. Psychophysiology, 24, 474-478.
10.
Kahneman, D.
(1973). Attention and effort. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
11.
Lang, A.
(1990). Involuntary attention and physiological arousal evoked by structural features and emotional content in TV commercials. Communication Research, 17, 275-299.
12.
Lang, A.
(1991). Emotion, formal features and memory for televised political advertisements. In F. Biocca (Ed.), Television and political advertising: Vol. 1: Psychological processes. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
13.
Lang, A.
, & Newhagen, J., Strickwerda, M., Miller, J., & Reeves, B. (1992). The processing of compelling negative video images in television news: Capacity, attention, & memory. Manuscript submitted for publication.
14.
Lang, A.
, & Thorson, E. (1989). The effects of television videographics and lecture familiarity on adult cardiac orienting responses and memory. Paper presented to the Information Systems Division, International Communication Association, Top Three Paper, San Francisco.
15.
Lang, P. J.
, & Hnatiow, M. (1962). Stimulus repetition and the heart rate response. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 781-785.
16.
Lynn, R.
(1966). Attention, arousal, and the orientation reaction. Oxford: Pergamon.
17.
Meadowcroft, J.
, & Reeves, B. (1989). Influence of story schema development on children's attention to television. Communication Research, 16, 352-374.
18.
Navon, D.
, & Gopher, D. (1980). Task difficulty resources and dual task performance. In R. S. Nickerson (Ed.), Attention and performance. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
19.
Newhagen, J.
, & Reeves, B. (1991). Effects of compelling visual images on attention to and memory for news stories. Paper presented to the International Communication Association, Chicago.
20.
Ohman, A.
(1977). The orientation response, attention and learning: An information processing perspective. In H. D. Kimmel, E. H. van Olst, & J. F. Orlebeke (Eds.), The orienting reflex in humans (pp. 443-472). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
21.
Posner, M.
(1978). Chronometric explorations of mind: The third Paul M. Fitts lectures. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
22.
Reeves, B.
, Thorson, E., Rothschild, M. L., McDonald, D., Hirsch, J., & Goldstein, R. (1985). Attention to television: Intrastimulus effects of movement and scene changes on alpha variations over time. International Journal of Neuroscience, 25, 241-255.
23.
Schleuder, J.
, Cameron, G., & Thorson, E. (1989). Proactive interference of television news teasers on attention to and memory for emotion-eliciting commercials. American Academy of Advertising Proceedings, 11-16.
24.
Shapiro, M.
(1986). Analogies, visualization, and mental processing of science stories. In M. McLaughlin (Ed.), Communication yearbook 9. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
25.
Thorson, E.
, & Lang, A. (1988). The effects of videographic complexity on memory for televised information. Paper presented to the International Communication Association, New Orleans, LA.
26.
Thorson, E.
, Reeves, B., & Schleuder, J. (1985). Message complexity and attention to television. Communication Research, 12, 427-454.
27.
Winn, M.
(1985). The plug-in drug. New York: Penguin.
