Pictures in the News

Have you ever noticed the kind of pictures used by those in the news? It is no coincidence that those pictures used in reference to anyone or anything representing an alternate view of the world than the one expressed by that particular news agency are often awkward and unflattering.  A picture is worth a thousand words, so the adage goes, and it appears that this old adage is actually true. 

Researchers at Michigan State University speculate that, “The part of the brain responsible for seeing is more powerful than previously believed.”

In a study in which they looked at which parts of the brain were active during a series of visual stimulations, they found that the visual cortex, responsible for vision imaging, has the same ability to make decisions as the brain’s “higher-level” decision-making areas.

Most previously thought that only the association cortex, known for higher-level functions, was responsible for decision making and that the visual cortex was only responsible for processing visual information. Recent studies are revealing that the visual cortex actually impacts decision making through visional interpretation. The research suggests that this part of the brain, once  thought to only be responsible for generating a picture in the mind, also has the ability to influence decision making. 

Another study found that photos of food were able to influence children in regard to their food choices. The study conducted by researchers at Iowa State University found that the salad consumption of children increased by as much as 90% when shown digital images of a salad or the vegetables in a salad. 

One study added a digital display of rotating images of salads to a cafeteria in a summer camp of children aged 6 -12. Once these rotating images were displayed, campers were more likely to choose lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots from a salad bar then they were before seeing the images. The researchers contributed the rise in vegetable choices by the campers to the images.

So, a picture is worth a thousand words and does drastically impact our thoughts, attitudes and behaviors. Placing an awkward or unflattering picture in a news story will greatly influence our perceptions of that news story. The news has never been just the news, but now we have a little more insight into why!