Memorability and Cognitive Errors in Recognizing Graffiti in Urban Environments: Results from a Field Experiment

The authors of vandalistic alterations to urban environments aim to make their works noticeable to the maximum number of observers in order to draw attention to their statements. However, from the perspective of the “inadvertent observer,” the visibility of unauthorized graffiti as elements of the u...

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Main Author: O. V. Kruzhkova
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Tsentr nauchnykh i obrazovatelnykh proektov 2025-03-01
Series:Научный диалог
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/view/6097
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author O. V. Kruzhkova
author_facet O. V. Kruzhkova
author_sort O. V. Kruzhkova
collection DOAJ
description The authors of vandalistic alterations to urban environments aim to make their works noticeable to the maximum number of observers in order to draw attention to their statements. However, from the perspective of the “inadvertent observer,” the visibility of unauthorized graffiti as elements of the urban landscape and their cognitive impact are not immediately evident. The objective of this study is to examine the perception of graffiti in the form of images and vandalized texts, focusing on their recognition and memorization by “inadvertent observers” in natural urban settings during a walking route. Participants in the field experiment (29 individuals aged 14 to 59) were asked to walk along a pedestrian route in the city center of Yekaterinburg. The direction of participants’ gaze was tracked using mobile eyetracking glasses. After completing the route, respondents selected unauthorized graffiti (both images and texts) encountered along the way from a set of alternatives presented in a questionnaire. It was found that unauthorized graffiti encountered along the route were most frequently recognized by participants aged 18 to 29, with no significant differences in recognition based on gender. A preference for recognizing images over texts was identified. Familiar and comprehensible graffiti, as well as those addressing atypical (particularly religious) themes, were recognized more readily. Cognitive errors (e.g., memory attribution errors) were linked to the widespread presence of typical graffiti in urban environments.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2225-756X
2227-1295
language Russian
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Tsentr nauchnykh i obrazovatelnykh proektov
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spelling doaj-art-59c25b7132e044fd9bc44711551a3a5a2025-08-25T18:13:34ZrusTsentr nauchnykh i obrazovatelnykh proektovНаучный диалог2225-756X2227-12952025-03-0114216318010.24224/2227-1295-2025-14-2-163-1802954Memorability and Cognitive Errors in Recognizing Graffiti in Urban Environments: Results from a Field ExperimentO. V. Kruzhkova0Ural State Pedagogical UniversityThe authors of vandalistic alterations to urban environments aim to make their works noticeable to the maximum number of observers in order to draw attention to their statements. However, from the perspective of the “inadvertent observer,” the visibility of unauthorized graffiti as elements of the urban landscape and their cognitive impact are not immediately evident. The objective of this study is to examine the perception of graffiti in the form of images and vandalized texts, focusing on their recognition and memorization by “inadvertent observers” in natural urban settings during a walking route. Participants in the field experiment (29 individuals aged 14 to 59) were asked to walk along a pedestrian route in the city center of Yekaterinburg. The direction of participants’ gaze was tracked using mobile eyetracking glasses. After completing the route, respondents selected unauthorized graffiti (both images and texts) encountered along the way from a set of alternatives presented in a questionnaire. It was found that unauthorized graffiti encountered along the route were most frequently recognized by participants aged 18 to 29, with no significant differences in recognition based on gender. A preference for recognizing images over texts was identified. Familiar and comprehensible graffiti, as well as those addressing atypical (particularly religious) themes, were recognized more readily. Cognitive errors (e.g., memory attribution errors) were linked to the widespread presence of typical graffiti in urban environments.https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/view/6097vandalized textsgraffitimemorizationcognitive errors
spellingShingle O. V. Kruzhkova
Memorability and Cognitive Errors in Recognizing Graffiti in Urban Environments: Results from a Field Experiment
Научный диалог
vandalized texts
graffiti
memorization
cognitive errors
title Memorability and Cognitive Errors in Recognizing Graffiti in Urban Environments: Results from a Field Experiment
title_full Memorability and Cognitive Errors in Recognizing Graffiti in Urban Environments: Results from a Field Experiment
title_fullStr Memorability and Cognitive Errors in Recognizing Graffiti in Urban Environments: Results from a Field Experiment
title_full_unstemmed Memorability and Cognitive Errors in Recognizing Graffiti in Urban Environments: Results from a Field Experiment
title_short Memorability and Cognitive Errors in Recognizing Graffiti in Urban Environments: Results from a Field Experiment
title_sort memorability and cognitive errors in recognizing graffiti in urban environments results from a field experiment
topic vandalized texts
graffiti
memorization
cognitive errors
url https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/view/6097
work_keys_str_mv AT ovkruzhkova memorabilityandcognitiveerrorsinrecognizinggraffitiinurbanenvironmentsresultsfromafieldexperiment