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Lucy Chen edited What_s_the_science_behind__.html  almost 8 years ago

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What's the science behind why people love infographics? 

There's overwhelming evidence that infographics are extremely effective at catching people's attention, and that that sticking ability isn't going away. In fact, 3M conducted a study that found visuals are processed in the brain over 60,000 times faster than text.

The brain craves infographics because we suffer from information overload: the average attention span has dropped to 8 seconds since 1980 and people only read 28% of what they see.  Our eyes are neurally networked to take in a visual scene in under 1 second while it takes 250 seconds to recognize, then assign meaning to symbols (think of each word in a sentence as a symbol). This explains why 80% of people are more willing to read an infographic--and they learn and retain information 32% better as a result too.


Why should scientists care?

It's become clear that writing papers and getting grants won't cut it in academia anymore.  Many tenure-track professors, especially those non-applied sciences, argue that layperson outreach and science communication are superfluous extensions of "cold, hard science" (see Reddit thread). To such skeptics, let me point out a correlation, and to that, attach a hypothesis:

Correlation: Funding for science is dropping along with public perception of scientists.
Hypothesis: The above is not merely correlation; rather, causation.

The the cycle of science explains why climate change researchers recently saw a cut in their funding, with low layperson education on climate change:
  1. Policymakers create grants for science ->
  2. Scientists conduct and publish research using grants ->
  3. This research molds public opinion on science ->
  4. Public opinion influences policy makers.
id="auto-label-section-881745"  class="ltx_title_section">What can scientists do?

Infographics are a great way to attract a larger audience, both laypeople and scientists alike. While the public outreach is more important to scientists in fields like environmental science and public health, the benefits for other career-track scientists are undeniable: people who undeniable. For example, researchers that  have created infographics such as visuals of paper abstracts  with PubDraw PubDraw  have seen over an average of 1.6 more citations and 10X more social engagement.


First, let me lay some cold, hard facts:

1. More scientists are applying every year for grant funding, which is declining every year.

2. More PhDs are graduating ever year yet more and more postdocs aren't getting tenure (6% in Europe).


Now, let me ask: Why are 52 out of the 36 million people on Academia and 9 million on ResearchGate Nobel Laureates?

 engagement.