Project description

How do people perceive dynamic media such as educational videos, movies, or soccer broadcasts? Human information processing is specialized in processing dynamic information. It distinguishes relevant, and thus informative, information from irrelevant information. This project follows two research lines, bridging the gap between cognitive psychological theories of event cognition and typical situations of media reception. On the one hand, we investigate the perceptual and psychological foundations of dynamic event perception by specifying, for example, the processes of encoding and the properties of mental representations of natural action sequences. On the other hand, we use cinematic stylistic devices (e.g., different camera perspectives, film editing) and new cinematographic film techniques (e.g., 3D films) to explain basic psychological processes, such as the experience of spatial presence or the experience of suspense.

In this project, we follow an experimental, behavioral, and psychological approach. In experiments, we primarily measure behavioral variables (e.g., eye movements and memory) to get specific information about the basic processes. The results of this research are important for theory building in cognitive psychology and media psychology.

Cooperations

• Dr. Frank Papenmeier, Universität Tübingen (Fachbereich Psychologie)

• Dr. Ayşe Candan Şimşek, Yazar University (Turkey)