interpretation

Telegraphic titles. Attention is highly selective (Bitgood, 2000). According to
Ham (1992), most people read the title of a written message before they read anything
else, and many people read only the title. Ham argues that the message theme should,
therefore, be incorporated into the title. Because they convey a complete idea, thematic
titles (“bears are curious creatures”) can be more attention grabbing than topic titles
(“the bears”). An advantage to such titles is that visitors are not required to read
beyond the title to grasp the primary message. The benefit of this was demonstrated
by Falk (1997), who showed that placing
explicit thematic labels on science exhibits
significantly increased visitors’ knowledge of
the central messages.
Methods
Study Area
The study focused on sign-viewing patterns of
Yosemite National Park visitors who camped
at the Upper Pines Campground, stayed at
Curry Village, or hiked from the Wilderness
Trailhead between August 1 and September
30, 2002. Three study locations were chosen
where we could unobtrusively observe these
visitors’ attention-paying behavior and conduct
oral interviews, as well as to represent different
types of park visitors.
At Upper Pines, signs containing
test messages were placed at each of the ten
restroom facilities in the campground where
visitors could view the message either entering
or exiting the restroom, yet where behavior Figure 1. Illustration of Test Message.
could be visible to the researcher. On treatment
days at the Wilderness Trailhead, a support frame and sign post with a test message
were placed about 100 yards from the parking lot along the trail. The wooden frame
was camouflaged with natural materials lying nearby. Curry Village was chosen as a site
representative of more developed accommodations. Test messages were placed near the
campground registration area, mounted to a support post near the main path of travel.
Experimental Stimuli
Five message treatments were designed for use in this experiment. Because we were
interested in testing the narrative structure and tone of the messages, we held most
formatting aspects of the signs constant and varied only the content. All signs were 11
inches by 17 inches, yellow in color and laminated. Each included a line drawing of a
black bear, used 24-point fonts, and had similar text length (94 to 108 words). Only the
typeface differed between signs. Using 10 independent readers, we determined that the
holding time (the time required for a visitor to read an entire message at a natural pace)
ranged from 18 to 23 seconds, depending on treatment. Figure 1 illustrates the sign
design and layout.
v o l u m e 15, n u m b e r 1 19