The Importance of Visualization Methods and Information Presentation in the Reception of a Legal Document

StatusPost-Print
Dublin Core metadata
Alternative title
Authors
Wszołek, Mariusz
Płuchowska, Dorota
Bierkowski, Tomasz
Woźniak-Dębińska, Paulina
Banach-Wilczyńska, Marcelina
Antczak, Mateusz
Monograph
Monograph (alternative title)
Date
Publisher
Journal title
International Journal of Visual Design
Issue
Volume
Pages
Pages
1-13
DOI
ISSN
2325-1581
ISSN of series
Weblink
https://cgscholar.com/publishers/articles/the-importance-of-visualization-methods-and-information-presentation-in-the-reception-of-a-legal-document
Access date
2026-06-07
Abstract PL
Abstract EN
This article examines the impact of visual techniques, such as bold, underline, and italics, on the effectiveness of processing legal document content. The study empirically tests Richard E. Mayer’s signaling principle, which posits that highlighting key information supports comprehension and recall. An experiment conducted with non-law students revealed that the effectiveness of typographic cues is not uniform and varies depending on the syntactic complexity of the legal content. Participants performed better with simpler linguistic structures, regardless of the type of visual emphasis, while increased complexity diminished the effectiveness of all signaling methods. These findings suggest that, under the conditions of this study, the effectiveness of typographic signaling is limited and strongly dependent on linguistic complexity. While the results do not invalidate the signaling principle, they indicate that its effects may be constrained in contexts involving cognitively demanding legal texts.
Abstract other
Keywords PL
Keywords EN
Legal Design
Legal Documents
Information Visualization
Signaling Principle
Working Memory
Typography
Plain Language
Keywords other
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 4. Quality Education ,
SDG 16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Exhibition title
Place of exhibition (institution)
Exhibition curator
URI
https://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2395
Type
License type
cc-by-nc-nd
Except as otherwise noted, this item is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence | Permitted use of copyrighted works
Funder
Time range from
Time range to
Contact person name
Related publication
Related publication
Grant/project name
Grant number
Files
pdf
The Importance of Visualization Methods.pdf(280.97 KB)
Download
Views
Views10
Acquisition Date8.07.2026
Downloads
Downloads1
Acquisition Date8.07.2026
Altmetrics©
Dimensions
Google Scholar
Google Scholar