Mansi, Week 11: Paint over Print
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Or in today’s words, pics or it didn’t happen. The original phrase was coined in 1921 by English illustrator Fred R. Barnard in an effort to promote the use of pictures in advertisements. Despite its more literal origins, the phrase proves to be nearly universally true.
Pictures are retrospectively tools for communication. 50,000 years ago, cavemen filled the walls of age-old caves with intricate drawings that did more than serve as home decor—they told stories. Today, even in the midst of civilization, pictures are bridges that cross the barriers set by languages. Pictures are universally understood, whereas words are limited to those that know their meanings.
Pictures convey emotion. A study at UC San Diego observed 50 participants as they were shown positive and negative faces, pictures, or words, and given a lemon-lime Kool-aid drink. Highlighted results of the study found that participants drank more Kool-aid after seeing a positive picture than after seeing a negative picture. However, there were little to no differences observed between seeing a positive word and a negative word, indicating that pictures had a substantially larger effect on emotions than words. Furthermore, though the value of movies versus the value of books stands as an understandably controversial opinion, movies capture through visuals what books often cannot. Cinematography techniques involve camera angles, sets, lighting, and color, crucial qualities that collectively create astonishing visuals and evoke powerful emotions.
Pictures teach. 65% of the population are visual learners, absorbing information through imagery, charts, and other educational visuals rather than monotonous textbook passages. Additionally, the picture superiority effect reveals that memory is boosted by the presence of visual imagery. The amount of information recalled after 3 days rises from 10% to 65% with the addition of visual learning supplements and pictures. The human brain also processes images significantly faster than it processes text—nearly 60,000 times faster.
As like all broadly generalized statements, however, there are exceptions—a picture is not always worth a thousand words. Yet, pictures often prove to be undeniably powerful, revealing remarkably more than what a few words can.
Hi Mansi! I learned so much from your blog! Nowadays, we do not realize how powerful pictures are. With a simple click, we can document a sight in front of us. Yet, pictures can tell us so much a certain era or culture; pictures are “universally understood.” I like how you connect pictures to cavemen paintings as the concept of capturing scenes and events has evolved so much. The study at San Diego that you describe remind me of something I learned in psychology. Seeing a positive picture can prime one to feel positive feelings, while a negative picture primed one to feel negative feelings. Pictures can convey an endless list of emotions. I also find the picture superiority effect fascinating since I am a visual learner. While learning new things, pictures help me recall and visualize information. It is quite amazing that the brain can process images “nearly 60,000 times faster” than text. The picture of the camera that you included is quite compelling as well; it will help me remember all the things I learned. I enjoyed reading your blog, and I look forward to the next one.
ReplyDeleteHi Mansi! I agree with you on the idea that pictures are such a big part of our life. With the transformation of social media, pictures are an efficient way for many individuals to document their lives on Instagram or Facebook. I know for a fact that I love taking pictures of little moments that I would like to capture, and I often find myself scrolling through old pictures in my camera roll to recall important memories with friends and family. Additionally, being a visual learner myself, I definitely find observing pictures in an educational context beneficial for my learning experience. I had never really thought of the exact reason behind this before, but your explanation of the "picture superiority effect" was an interesting inclusion, and I know that pictures will continue to play a great role in my life.
ReplyDeleteHi Mansi! I really liked how you tied an age-old saying into something that we are all very familiar with now: "pics or it didn't happen." I think that your blog was very neatly structured. Your introduction was concise yet extremely informative, and you conveyed the power of a picture very well. I liked that you did not just explore the theoretical applications of this saying, you tied it back into a very real psychological impact that certainly influences millions, if not billions of students worldwide. Like many others, I categorize myself as a visual learner as well. I never understood why I fell under this category, but your blog cleared up a lot of the facts for me. The picture superiority effect is very interesting; I added the article to my TBR list. Overall, your blog was a great read and I really appreciated how you connected your conclusion back to your intro, both through your main idea and your syntax.
ReplyDeleteHi Mansi! I love your blog as it is a topic I think about often as an artist. Firstly, I like how you use two common phrases in the beginning of your blog to show the constant importance of imagery in society throughout history. Your mention of caveman drawings was incredibly clever and made me better able to understand the significance of images. This reminds me of a place in Hawaii (I visited last summer) where caveman drawings were on display. There were drawings of dogs, men, and families. It shocks me that we have been using the same method to communicate for hundreds of years now.
ReplyDeleteYour inclusion of the study at UC San Diego showed that you researched well and proves that emotion is a fundamental part of images. It is crazy to me that seeing a picture can subconsciously make you choose certain products and make certain decisions over others. Also, I am happy to know that “65% of the population are visual learners” because I myself learn best with pictures or videos instead of reading textbooks or reviewing slides. This is why I tend to create mind maps and flowcharts when studying for tests. It's nice to know that a majority of the population operates the same way. You ended your blog effectively by asserting the “undeniably powerful” impact of pictures and proved your point well. Overall, your blog is extremely well written and informative. I loved reading it and I hope to read more in the next couple of weeks!