Behavior of the Average Visitor in the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University [electronic resource] / Mildred C. B. Porter.

The questions investigated in this study were whether the casual Sunday-afternoon visitor followed a sequence of exhibits at the Peabody Museum of Natural History (Yale University) in the order intended, how much time he spent studying the exhibits, how often he read the labels, and especially, whet...

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Online Access: Full Text (via ERIC)
Main Author: Porter, Mildred C. B.
Corporate Author: Yale Univ., New Haven , CT. Peabody Museum of Natural History
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: [S.l.] : Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse, 1938.
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Summary:The questions investigated in this study were whether the casual Sunday-afternoon visitor followed a sequence of exhibits at the Peabody Museum of Natural History (Yale University) in the order intended, how much time he spent studying the exhibits, how often he read the labels, and especially, whether this arrangement prevented or even delayed "museum-fatigue." When the individual records were examined, it was found that the route taken by the average visitor was the reverse of that planned in the Guide Book; 24.4 percent of the exhibits were examined; 10.9 percent of the labels were read; and the average time taken by the visitors for reviewing the history of life on the earth during the past 500,000,000 years was 21.40 minutes. Conclusions arising from a behavior inventory of visitors and from a leaflet experiment were: (1) that mere juxtaposition of exhibits in a logical sequence does not, by itself, guarantee their examination by the casual Sunday-afternoon visitor in the order intended, and (2) that the visitors benefited from the use of the leaflets to an extent that was statistically significant. (Author/MF)
Item Description:ERIC Document Number: ED044920.
Sponsoring Agency: American Association of Museums, Washington, DC.
ERIC Note: Thesis submitted to Yale University; American Association of Museums, New Series Number 16.
Educational level discussed: Adult Education.
Physical Description:31 p.