Comportamiento del consumidor

Current understanding of attention has developed as a result of numerous experimental studies (Styles, 2006). Many applied research questions can be tested using an experimental design in a laboratory and there are many benefits of being able to do so. For example, using an experimental design allows for stricter control over extraneous variables and allows researchers to recruit more participants than an applied setting, achieving greater statistical power. Laboratory experiments can be categorised in to two types: basic experiments or applied experiments, which will now be discussed in turn.

Basic experiments are used to generate theories that are applicable to everyday contexts using conditions that are easy to manipulate, control and measure (Goodwin, 2008). Findings from basic laboratory experiments into human attention have been applied to driving (Kunar

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tracking task (MOT) while listening to differing forms of auditory stimuli (participation in a telephone conversation or listening to an auditory narrative) or no auditory stimuli. In each condition, participants were required to follow four of eight grey disks. The eight disks moved in unpredictable, random trajectories over the computer screen but never occluded one another. Participation in the telephone conversation used hands-free to prevent performance deficits as a result of motor interference. Within the narrative condition, participants listened to the passage via a headset. They were instructed to pay attention because they would be asked questions about the passage at the end of the experiments. MOT performance was disrupted when participants participated in the telephone conversation condition but no effect was found as a result of listening to the narrative (Kunar

et al., 2008). The experiment was then repeated with additional conditions. The additional

conditions each had different auditory stimuli. In one condition, participants were required to repeat words that they were given and in another condition, participants were required to generate a new word in response to the given words. MOT performance was disrupted in the word generation but not the word repetition condition. The findings of this experiment indicate that it is word generation that disrupts performance of sustained visual tasks, such as driving, rather than listening or speaking. These findings reinforce the dangers associated with conducting telephone conversations whilst driving. They demonstrate that it is not possible to sustain visual attention, which is essential for drivers in order to be aware of the changing environment around them, during a conversation. The findings also suggest that listening to the radio or singing along to music is likely to be okay. They do however raise questions about the possible dangers of participation in conversations with passengers whilst driving as this too requires word generation and so therefore may disrupt performance of visual tasks. Finally, these findings also support the theory of cross modal links between visual and auditory attention, with interference resulting from generation of

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speech rather than an inability to process auditory and visual stimuli simultaneously (Kunar

et al., 2008).

Applied experiments have also been used to study the dangers of telephone conversations whilst driving, drawing upon methods used in basic experiments (Strayer et al., 2004). Strayer et al., (2004) used a simulated driving task to compare the effect of telephone conversations on the amount of visual information seen and recalled. The stimulator used a steering wheel, dashboard and brake pedals and displayed realistic scenes and traffic conditions. The experiment had two conditions. In the first condition, participants completed the driving task alone and in the second condition, they participated in a hands free telephone conversation with the research assistant whilst completing the simulated driving. Sixty objects that could occur within a driving scene were used within the experiments. These included objects such as pedestrians or trucks. Within each condition, 30 of the 60 objects were displayed in the scene. Counterbalancing was used to ensure that the different objects appeared in an equal number of experiments and in different orders. After the experiment, participants’ ability to recall the objects that they had seen whilst driving was assessed. This was done by presenting the 60 possible objects in pairs – one that had been displayed and one that had not. Eye tracking data was also collected to determine whether the participants directed their gaze at the objects. No significant difference was found in eye tracking between the two conditions. Recall of the objects seen during the simulated driving was better when participants were completing the driving condition alone in comparison to when they were completing the driving condition and talking to the research assistant. These findings suggest that drivers may fail to see objects within the environment when participating in a telephone conversation, even when they direct their gaze upon the object. Strayer et al., (2004) conclude that this is due to their attention being directed elsewhere.

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Findings from both basic and applied experiments such as these not only have real world applications such as driving safety, they also further understanding of theory. These two studies contribute to the large body of work examining human attention with findings supporting theories of limited attention and processing ability, as they again demonstrate that we are unable to attend to and process all the information available to us at a given time. The findings also raise questions about cross modal attention and our ability to attend to more than one mode of stimuli at a given time.

2.5.

Chapter Summary

This chapter has outlined four bodies of literature. The first two sections of this chapter highlighted the discrepancy between the public and media’s perspectives of medical images and the reality. The first section discussed the uncertainty associated with interpreting medical images by outlining psychological literature examining visual search performance and errors in image interpretation. This is in contrast to the second section, which presented the perspective of medical images as truthful and authoritative. Consequences of this perception, such as the overuse of imaging tests, were also discussed. This perspective is revisited throughout the thesis and in part, forms the rationale for one aspect of experiment two conducted in study four, as described in Chapter Six.

The final two sections of this chapter presented two areas of research, which formed the rationale for this research project. Communication in healthcare literature and psychology literature addressing visual and auditory attention suggest that it is worth studying the use of 3D images within consultations in order to understand if they can be helpful to patients. Communication in healthcare literature has highlighted the need to improve clinical communication and increase patient understanding. The potential for patients to benefit from viewing images (including pictures, diagrams and 2D images) during a clinical consultation has also been raised, with reported benefits including increased patient

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understanding and satisfaction. Study one (Chapter Three) seeks to build upon these findings by exploring patients experience of viewing their own 3D image during a clinical consultation. Psychological literature has emphasised the ease at which individuals are distracted from sensory information, including auditory stimuli. The suggestion that vision is the dominant sense suggests that benefit could be gained from presenting information to patients in this form. The combination of auditory stimuli from the conversation with the doctor and the use of an image may improve the patient’s attention to the message that is being communicated. The image may aid the patient to maintain focus. In contrast, the image could further distract the patient from the auditory message or lead to it being inaccurately assimilated. This will be explored in an experimental study (Chapter Six) which will compare participants’ experience of hearing a diagnosis with and without an image.

This review of the literature suggests that an exploratory study could be useful to understand the impact of the image when presented alongside auditory information.

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Part Two

Chapter Three: Understanding the experience of viewing a 3D image

within a clinical consultation: an orthopaedic clinic case study

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