About the Book
How can museums capture visitors’ attention? And how can their attention be sustained? In this important volume, leading visitor researcher and educational psychologist Stephen Bitgood proposes a model—the attention-value model—that will help museum practitioners create more effective museum environments. A major advance beyond earlier efforts, the attention-value model shows how both personal and exhibit design variables influence the capture, focus, and engagement of attention. Bitgood also offers extensive background in the visitor attention literature, details of his extensive testing of the attention-value tool, and guidelines for its application. Balancing theory, research, and practical application, Attention and Value is a must-read for exhibition developers at all levels—from students to seasoned practitioners.
Table of Contents:
Part 1 What We Know about Visitor Attention; Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Early Studies In Visitor Attention; Chapter 3 Review of Visitor Attention Theories and Models; Chapter 4 Inferred Outcomes of Engaged Attention; Chapter 5 Overview of The Attention-Value Model; Part 2 Understanding Value and Motivation; Chapter 6 Value as a Combination of Quality and Duration: Impact on Choice of Film; Chapter 7 How Value Influences Choice of Text Passages; Chapter 8 Predicting Engaged Attention to Exhibit Text Passages; Part 3 Ways to Promote Engaged Attention; Chapter 9 Prompting Engaged Attention with Visitor Self-Guides; Chapter 10 Prompting Engaged Attention by Instructions to Describe or Compare Exhibit Objects; Chapter 11 How Label Placement Influences Visitor Attention; Chapter 12 Prompting Attention to Exhibits by Supplementing Audio with Text; Chapter 13 Prompting Attention with a Large Interpretive Background; Part 4 Promoting Engaged Attention Though Exhibit Design; Chapter 14 Phenomena Associated with Decreases in Visitor Attention; Chapter 15 Visitor Navigation and Attention; Chapter 16 Visitor Attention in Exhibitions: Some Guiding Principles;
About the Author :
Stephen Bitgood, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, USA. After several years of work in experimental, clinical, and educational psychology, he began studying visitors in museums, parks, and zoos in 1984. He has travelled extensively conducting research with visitors, evaluating exhibitions, conducting workshops for professionals, and presenting conference papers. His work has focused on applying a scientific, psychological approach to the study of visitors and his wide-ranging publications in visitor studies include Social Design in Museums: The Psychology of Visitor Studies (MuseumsEtc, 2011), a chapter in the Handbook of Environmental Psychology (Bechtel & Churchman, 2002), articles in Visitor Studies, Visitor Studies Today, Curator, Journal of Interpretation Research, and Journal of Museum Education, among many others.
Review :
"Using Bitgood's language, this book immediately captures and then focuses our attention through clearly articulated ideas and research-base frameworks that are grounded in, but not constrained by past research and then presents contemporary research that deeply engages us in an exploration of the attention-value framework as a lens for understanding, changing and measuring visitor engagement. The clear organization and language of this book belies the rich complexity of the research and theory. Get your highlighters and sticky notes ready; this book is worth the attention of anyone interested in research or practice and it will be recommended to all my students." --Kris Morrissey, Director, Museum Graduate Program, University of Washington "Following up from his comprehensive, two-volume collection of essays, Social Design in Museums: The Psychology of Visitor Studies, (2011), Steve Bitgood has directed his analytic skills to exploring in detail one of the fundamental variables in understanding the behavior of museum visitors - what determines the level of attention that visitors pay to museum exhibits? And more importantly, how can such knowledge help in the design of exhibits that better realize their potential effectiveness in communicating with visitors?" --Harris Shettel, Curator Board of Editors and past president of the Visitor Studies Association "...Bitgood addresses one of the core issues of visitor studies: Visitor attention. As any exhibit designer and museum educator knows, a major challenge in planning displays is how to focus visitor attention to key elements of design and interpretation. Bitgood presents a comprehensive overview of how attention has been researched in visitor studies. Additionally, he expands on ideas and reports on his own program of research. He also provides a helpful guide in his Attention-Value Model. Readers will not only learn about attention, but also gain insights for practical applications from research. This is a must read book for understanding visitor attention. Typical of Bitgood's writings, readers will also gain many insights into visitor studies."... - Ross J. Loomis, Ph.D. Psychology, Professor Emeritus, Colorado State University "This study should be of major interest for those who design exhibitions primarily in museums, which must devote time and effort to attracting visitors. Bitgood (emer., Jacksonville State Univ.) investigates a complex combination of components from both exhibition practice and psychological theory to develop the "attention-value model." The book, organized into four parts, incorporates both historical and current examples. Each of the 16 chapters begins with a useful listing of "Key Ideas" and "Key Questions" that focus on different types of exhibitions. What, for example, is "visitor attention"? What do visitors look at? Why and how do visitors pay attention? What distracts them? Results of the author's research are reported in narrative form, tables, and figures. He views "attention" as a three-stage continuum involving capture, focus, and engagement. He indicates that "it must be understood within an economic definition of value (utility/cost ratio)." An appendix presents a very useful "Checklist for Managing Visitor Attention" that identifies the most important variables. This volume follows the author's two-volume set of collected essays, Social Design in Museums: The Psychology of Visitor Studies (2011). Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners."-CHOICE
