How Do we Know what the Visitor Knows?: Learning from Interpretation

Abstract

This paper presents a number of ideas for readers interested in finding what visitors learn from interpretation. First, some ideas from basic research in different fields of psychology promise applications of interest to interpreters. These ideas range from need for cognition to the newer definition of learning that emphasizes cognitive processes. I have termed these ideas a “top-down” application of knowledge from other fields to visitor studies. A second source of information about visitor learning comes from “bottom-up” efforts that are bringing forth ideas directly out of empirical research in visitor studies. Data-based studies are being used to suggest learning concepts specifically developed for visitor studies and thereby relevant to interpretation. A third source of information is the development of a process model of evaluation for exhibits and visitor-based programs. While this model is currently used to acquire information for decision making, it could hold promise for more intensive studies of visitor learning.