Pictures Are Visually Processed; Symbols Are also Recognized

What makes a representation pictorial?

I respond to this question as a small step toward a perceptual-cognitive understanding of graphic representation properties that play important roles in the usability of information systems. Here, I focus to capabilities that play a role in whether material objects are visually processed or recognized as pictorial or symbolized representations. I distinguish pictorial and symbolized information in terms of how each makes use of “less-learned”

perceptual emulation

capabilities that evolved to enable reaction to real-time environmental changes, and

more-learned

capabilities to

recognize

features in order to

predict and plan (“simulate”)

future changes from

memory traces

of past percepts.

Pictorial information

makes use of these capabilities to cause perceptual emulation of environmental surfaces that are not part of the marked surface and are referred to here as

“pictured.”

Symbolized (visual) information

is conceived here as visual information from a visual representation, that, through learning and recognition, causes retrieval of memory traces that serve as resources for the construction of mental simulations beyond (or other than) what is pictured. By locating information and representation at the intersection of perceiver and environment, a preliminary model to address the perplexing problem of distinguishing pictorial from symbolized representations is introduced.