Predicting the Memorability of Graphics

Paul Muter and Irene Rukavina

Abstract

...Unfortunately, no good method of predicting the memorability of graphics has been discovered, perhaps because the role of graphics in learning is extremely complex. The present study tested the usefulness of a new method of predicting the memorability of graphics.

Two different graphic representations of each of 50 words were created. The memorability of each of the resulting 100 slides was assessed by determining what proportion of some undergraduates could recall each slide after a single presentation. Then eight professional artists, eight cognitive psychologists, and eight undergraduates attempted to estimate the memorability of each slide. Though the correlations between predicted and observed memorability were low, they were positive for 23 of the 24 predictors. Furthermore, the human beings were better predictors of memorability than were the dimensions of literalness, relevance, detail, distinctiveness, emotional impact, personal appeal, size, and number of colours. The present method shows promise as a means of predicting the memorability of graphics, and is worth pursuing further.