Main finding in a research summary

Museum designers sometimes add short explanatory labels beside unfamiliar objects to help visitors remember what they have seen. Researchers displayed the same set of objects to 42 visitors; 21 visitors saw concise explanatory labels, while 21 saw labels containing only object names and dates. One day later, visitors who had seen explanatory labels recalled a median of 26 object facts, compared with 18 facts recalled by visitors who had seen basic labels. The visitors viewed a single temporary exhibit, and recall was measured only one day later. The study suggests that concise explanatory labels can improve short-term recall of exhibit information under similar viewing conditions.