Do Films Make You Think?

Nowadays, moving pictures dominate not only the§entertainment sector in the form of big blockbusters,§but they are also often used for informational§purposes. However, the assumption that expository§films ( informational films ) are processed in a§superficial manner and that they are, therefore, not§suitable for informational purposes is widespread,§but has never been tested directly. Dr. Tibus§analyzes in her work whether local causal bridging§inferences (LCBIs), a cognitive activity necessary§for the understanding of complex scientific contents,§are generated during film reception. She develops an§innovative paradigm to measure LCBIs online and§demonstrates that LCBIs are generated. Moreover, she§finds that LCBIs are generated online, but that§domain specific prior knowledge is needed to§integrate the online inferred causal information into§long-term memory structures and to yield a deeper§understanding. Based on these results, Dr. Tibus§could refute the assumption that expository films are§only superficially elaborated and makes an important§contribution to the field of cognitive film psychology.