This brief survey of successful visual literacy programs designed for students at the elementary and secondary level outlines projects to teach visual communication skills in Ohio, Indiana (Project Visual Understanding in Education/VUE), Virginia, Iowa (Media NOW), California, Canada, England, and Australia (Visual Education Curriculum Project).…

In a study, kindergarten and third grade students were given handwriting copying practice using different perceptual prompts to reproduce model letter forms. Results indicate that groups trained with perceptual prompts produced more accurate reproductions. (Author/JN)

The visual behavior under both static and dynamic viewing conditions was examined in a group of 13-year-old successful readers, compared with a group of the same age retarded in reading. Research supports the notion that problems of dynamic binocular vision and control while reading are important. (Author/KC)

Examines the development of young children's analysis of spatial patterns--specifically, hierarchical letter and geometric forms. Suggests that although children as young as four years of age demonstrated substantial analytic competence, their ability to integrate the parts of the spatial array to form a coherent whole was weaker and more easily…

Examines the potential contribution of different neural systems to developmental change in the duration of visual fixation, and the individual differences in that variable that are predictive of subsequent cognitive function. Presents hypotheses concerning two specific and independent neural systems and how they might contribute to individual and…

The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to examine the effect of visuals possessing different amounts of realistic detail and the effects of integrating covert and overt rehearsal strategies into visually complemented prose instruction. A total of 128 university students participated in the study, which involved a prose text on the…

This book, describing the result of extended research on how charts/graphs convey information, develops a scheme for describing/analyzing information contained in graphs/charts. A psychological theory of knowledge of the reader and the mental events which occur in attempting to read a graphic display are the two focal points of the book. A…

A study examined how children visualize, draw, and make inferences about story content presented either aurally on tape or as an animated film. Audio versions of the story were manipulated to include short descriptions, in either literal or nonliteral language, directly analogous to the film's visual depiction at four points in the story. These…

Research literature indicates that haphazard selection techniques for the inclusion of pictures and illustrations in textbooks occur more frequently than do techniques employing empirical investigation. Current studies have explored a variety of factors related to the use of illustrations, such as color, time, age, achievement, and sex of the…

IN ORDER TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF TRAINING AND SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS UPON VISUAL INTEGRATIVE ABILITIES AND THEIR RAMIFICATION IN THE THEORIES OF PIAGET AND WERNER, 60 FIRST-GRADE MALE CHILDREN WERE ASSIGNED TO ONE OF THREE TRAINING CONDITIONS. HALF OF THE BOYS WERE FROM A BETTER THAN AVERAGE SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND WHILE THE REMAINDER WERE DRAWN…

Chapter 1 of this report, "Introduction and General Recommendations for Eye-Movement Research and Instrumentation," discusses research priorities; encouraging and supporting theories, models, or simulations of information processing; and improved instrumentation in the field of visual information processing. Chapter 2, "Summary of…

Visual literacy, as used here, refers to the skills which let a person understand and use visuals to communicate his messages and interpret the messages of others. Visual literacy should be important in the curriculum because: 1) children pay more attention to movies and television than they do to teachers; 2) the plethora of visual information…

SLIDES OF SELECTED TEXTBOOK ILLUSTRATIONS, DRAWN TO HIGHLIGHT THE PERTINENT AREAS OF THE ILLUSTRATION BY MEANS OF SHADING AND ILLUMINATION, WERE USED TO EVALUATE THEIR EFFECTIVENESS OVER SELECTED SLIDES OF CONVENTIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND DIAGRAMS IN WHICH ALL DETAILS WERE PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED. WHEN THE CONTROL SLIDES WERE PRESENTED, A TEACHER USED…

Reviewed are findings from 60 research studies investigating the relationship of visual discrimination, spatial relations, memory, and auditory-visual integration to school learning. (Author/CL)

This article is a partial summary of a doctoral dissertation completed under the direction of Professor Lloyd M. Dunn at George Peabody College for Teachers. (RD)