[Art_beyond_sight_theory_and_research] questions

[John Kennedy]

Hi Lisa
  there are two kinds of graphics. Those with referents understood
spontaneously, like pictures, and those based on a convention, like
piecharts.
   It is important to gain facility with both. And there are many kinds of
conventions (an infinite set) but pictures are based on a small set.
   John



> Hi,
>
> I have been wondering about a few things and would like to hear what you
> think.
>
> 1. When and where is it most likely that a visually impaired person will
> encounter tactile graphics? School, museums, sports activities,
> galleries etc.
>
> I guess this is an "it all depends type of question" but am thinking
> that it would be at school. That it, when a student recieves school
> books in braille it is often that they will also recieve tactile
> graphics and that once leaving school they will have little access to
> tactile graphics even though books in braille are available. Does that
> seem correct?
>
> 2. There are two "understandings" connected to understanding an
> information graphic for everyone. 1. understanding the form of it, how
> it is drawn etc.   2. interpreting what the lines making up the graph
> means.
>
> a. Learning to understand information graphics (graphs, maps, pie charts
> etc)  for both sighted and visually impaired students is dependent upon
> exposure and practice to such information.  Does this seem true?
>
> That is if a sighted child does never encounters a graph at all he/she
> will not be able to understand it - either in the first way of
> understanding or in the second way.  Does this seem true?
>
> That more experience a sighted child has with information graphics, the
> greater chances are that he/she will be able to understand more
> difficult graphics. Does this seem correct?
>
> 3. A sighted student has constant exposure to information graphics both
> in school and out of school. A student who is blind does not have
> constant exposure to information graphics - neither in school or outside
> of school. This is a generalization but does it seem correct? If this is
> so, would it then follow that it would be difficult for the blind
> student to understand information graphics in both ways
>
> The reason I am asking this is that I feel that it is in school that
> most VI students encounter tactile graphics and that if they don't get
> the chance to read them then it is not likely that they will encounter
> them later.
>
> OK, I hope to hear what you think.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Lisa
>
>
>
>
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John M Kennedy FRSC
University Professor Emeritus
Professor of Psychology
University of Toronto
1265 Military Trail
Toronto ON M1C1A4
Canada