Construction or updating? Event model processes during visual narrative comprehension.

The plot of a narrative is represented in the form of event models in working memory. Because only parts of the plot are actually presented and information is continually changing, comprehenders have to infer a good portion of a narrative and keep their mental representation updated. Research has identified two related processes (e.

Do a pedagogical agent's clothing and an animated video's setting affect learning?

Pedagogical agents are often used to enhance social cues in learning materials. The inclusion of pedagogical agents raises several design questions, for example on what kind of clothing the agent should wear. Further, it is not yet clear how the setting of an animated learning video (i.

Medical education videos as a tool for rehearsal: efficiency and the cases of background music and difficulty.

This study reports a field experiment investigating how instructional videos with and without background music contribute to the learning of examination techniques within a formal curriculum of medical teaching. Following a classroom teaching unit on the techniques for examining the knee and the shoulder joint, our participants ( = 175) rehearsed the studied techniques for either the knee or the shoulder joint with an instructional video with or without background music. As dependent measures, we collected a general questionnaire, a prediction of test performance, as well as performance on an exam-like knowledge test covering both joints.

Digital images are hard to resist: Teaching viewers about the effects of camera angle does not reduce the camera angle's impact on power judgments.

Digital images on the internet are often designed to manipulate viewers' interpretations. Therefore, it is important to educate viewers regarding potential effects of such techniques. We investigated whether two interventions addressing potential effects of camera angle affect the technique's effect on participants' power-related judgments of depicted persons.

Actual and Perceived Knowledge About COVID-19: The Role of Information Behavior in Media.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a health threat that has dominated media coverage. However, not much is known about individual media use to acquire knowledge about COVID-19. To address this open research question, this study investigated how the perceived threat is linked to media use and how media use is associated with perceived and actual knowledge about COVID-19.

Buffering - Please Be Patient! Does the Attribution of Pauses to Technical Issues Hamper Learning?

In educational contexts, system-determined pauses are often used to interrupt the transient flow of information and thus avoid cognitive overload in dynamic learning materials. However, next to these didactically motivated interruptions, video-based learning materials may also be interrupted due to technical issues with regard to constrained bandwidth or outdated technology. Against this background, the current experiment investigated whether the interruption of dynamic representations due to technical issues negatively affects learning.

Size and volume of kidney stones in computed tomography: Influence of acquisition techniques and image reconstruction parameters.

Purpose: Computed tomography (CT) is routinely used to assess suspected urolithiasis. Information obtained from CT include presence, location and size of stones, with the latter frequently determining treatment strategy. While there is consensus regarding measurements procedures of kidney stones, influence of radiation dose and reconstruction techniques on stone measurements are unknown.

Cross-codal integration of bridging-event information in narrative understanding.

Visual narratives communicate event sequences by using different code systems such as pictures and texts. Thus, comprehenders must integrate information from different codalities. This study addressed such cross-codal integration processes by investigating how the codality of bridging-event information (i.

Semiautomated Renal Cortex Volumetry in Multislice Computed Tomography: Effect of Slice Thickness and Iterative Reconstruction Algorithms.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of slice thickness, iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithm, and kernel selection on measurement accuracy and interobserver variability for semiautomated renal cortex volumetry (RCV) with multislice computed tomography (CT).

Methods: Ten patients (62.4 ± 17.

Phantomless assessment of volumetric bone mineral density using virtual non-contrast images from spectral detector computed tomography.

Objective: To evaluate phantomless assessment of volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) based on virtual non-contrast images of arterial (VNC) and venous phase (VNC) derived from spectral detector CT in comparison to true non-contrast (TNC) images and adjusted venous phase conventional images (CI).

Methods: 104 consecutive patients who underwent triphasic spectral detector CT between January 2018 and April 2019 were retrospectively included. TNC, VNC, VNC and venous phase images (CI) were reconstructed.

Semiautomated Renal Cortex Volumetry in Spectral Computed Tomography: Effect of Monoenergetic Reconstructions on Measurement Precision and Interobserver Variability.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the influence of virtual monoenergetic images (vMEIs) on renal cortex volumetry (RCV) and estimation of split-renal function.

Methods: Twenty-five patients (mean ± SD, 64.7 ± 9.

Can computed tomography volumetry of the renal cortex replace MAG3-scintigraphy in all patients for determining split renal function?

Objectives: The current gold standard for determination of split renal function (SRF) is Tc-99m-mercapto-acetyltriglycin (MAG3) scintigraphy. Initial studies comparing MAG3-scintigraphy and CT-based renal cortex volumetry (RCV) for calculation of SRF have shown similar results in highly selected patient collectives with normal renal function (i.e.