Telling juxtapositions: Using repetition and alignable difference in diagram understanding

This paper shows how MAGI, the model of repetition and symmetry detection, can model the cognitive processes humans use when reading repetition-based diagrams, and describes JUXTA, which uses this insight to critique a class of diagrams that juxtapose similar scenes to demonstrate physical laws.

Abstract

Diagrams often use repetition to convey points and establish contrasts. This paper shows how MAGI, our model of repetition and symmetry detection, can model the cognitive processes humans use when reading repetition-based diagrams. MAGI, which is based on the Structure Mapping Engine, detects repetition by aligning both visual and conceptual relational structure. This lets visual regularity of form support an understanding of the conceptual regularity such forms often depict. We describe JUXTA, which uses this insight to critique a class of diagrams that juxtapose similar scenes to demonstrate physical laws. Introduction In explanatory diagrams, repeated structures often have special significance. To underscore a point or emphasize a difference, diagrams often juxtapose events, scenes, or objects. Examples include a "before and after" display of shirts in a laundry detergent ad and a point-by-point comparison of pumps in a physics text. In such cases, visual repetition heightens cont...