Captions makeiteasierfor us to consume and enjoy mediaevery day.
Whether you’readeaf orhard-of-hearingfilm buff, astudentfollowingalecture in a foreign language,oryou’resimply trying towatchthe newswithachatty friendor family memberin the room, having textto readalong with your videocan feel like a breath of fresh air.
There are many reasons your brainloves captions.Here arejustsome of thefantasticthings going on inyour head whenyou watchthem.
FiringNeurons
Whether you’re watching content in your own language or a language you’re learning,studies have shownthatcaptionsfacilitatethemapping ofcontent between sound, meaning and text, oiling the wheels for comprehension–andstimulatingyour brain!
Thereis ahuge number of studiesdemonstratingthat captioning videos vastly improves comprehension ofcontent, attention todetail,and memoryofavideo’s content.
Asdescribedby researchers Frey and Fisher,“When we experience something, neurons fire. Repeated firings lead to physical changes [in the brain] that, over time and with repetition, become more permanent.”When audiences absorb content throughbothaudio mediaandtext captions,their understanding is solidifiedand reinforced.
Onestudyfrom researcher Brij Kotharifound that captionscandouble a child’s chance ofdeveloping strong reading skills.
And as motheroftwoMarion McGillivrayobserves, “By turning on the subtitles, my children are reading without even knowing it.”Asmost parents will attest, any tool thatencouragesa reluctant childtoreadis a valuable thingindeed.
TrackingGaze
In‘eye tracking’, researchers use near-infrared light and high-resolution cameras totrackviewers’gazesand responsestostimuli.
The technology records a variety of data including pupil size, fixations(when the eye stays looking at one subject),and saccades(the way the eyemovesbetween different subjects).
This methodhas enabled researcherstolearn more aboutthecognitiveprocesses that occur when we watch captioned content.For example, we now know thateven those with low reading skills willautomatically look at the captions.
Also, the degree to which viewers process the captionsis determined by theextent to which theyneedthemin ordertofollow the dialogue, or to obtain information on relevant sounds.
CognitiveLoad
Cognitive load studies have foundthatcaptions help viewersprocess content more effectively.Thistheory works on the basis thathumanshave a limited working memory and processing capacitywhen receiving information from outside sources.
This is useful information for many audiences withdisabilitiesthat affect cognitive load, as captions can support someone to process information when their brain is overwhelmed.(And remember!Transcripts also provide an after-the-fact record of the spoken contentthat all audiences canrefer backto.)
WorkingMemory
Captionsallowviewers to reduce the amount of information stored in the working memory,freeingup capacity for the absorption of visual and audio contentthey are also receiving.
Memory testing studieshave shownthatcaptions helpdeafviewers rememberacademiccourse contentmore effectively.
And Marketingand Salesfolks,listen up! Captions are alsouseful forsuccessfuladvertising– according tothis studyby Gips andBrasel,same-languagecaptionscan enhancetheeffectiveness ofTVadsby increasingbrand recall and memory of other verbal information.
Interestingly,lags in captions– which are often present in live content –werefound tobebeneficial to hearing viewersas they allowed the brain to catch up and refresh the working memory.
FutureResearch
There are many moving parts involved in the cognitive processing of captions, including lag, reading speed,caption position,content type andthe presence oflearning aides likePowerPointpresentations.
With more research into this area, we’ll discover more about why the captions feel so good to watch.
Watch this space! And to harness all thesebenefitsand more,get in touchwith our friendly teamto get Ai-Media’s captions on your content.
