Content area
Abstract
This dissertation proposes a theory of communication based on human cognitive processes in relation to the spatial and temporal attributes of communications. The theory proposes basic variables to define human reception in relation to critical dimensions of the communication. It demonstrates experimental methods for testing its theory and for analyzing the performance of communications. The dissertation focuses on hypermedia as a form of communication that combines symbolic modes such as text with sensory modes such as image, movement, sound, and user interaction in the construction of the communication. Experiments manipulate communications by altering semantic and temporal relations between sensory and symbolic elements. They measure the effects of these manipulations on performance including the interpretation, comprehension, affective response, and memory of the communications.
