The Coherence of Visual Narratives

Abstract

Memory for visual narratives was examined as a function of cinematic structure. Four visual narratives were constructed, with each narrative taking place within a single location and presenting an interaction between two main characters. Two separate experiments examined the influence of establishing shots and directional continuity on subjects' memory for the depicted events. In a 2 × 2 design, the narratives began with or without an establishing shot and preserved or violated directional continuity. Experiment 1 showed that subjects can accurately recognize the flow of action in visual narratives, even without establishing shots, as long as directional continuity is preserved, but that establishing shots allow the viewer to construct a comprehensive representation of spatial layout. Experiment 2 introduced a reconstruction task to assess memory for the narratives, showing not only that directional continuity provided a framework for establishing spatial coherence but that this spatial framework enhanced subjects' ability to remember the depicted activities in the appropriate sequence. In general, these experiments identified two important psychological principles for restructuring real-world activities into coherent filmed sequences.