Giusi Antonia Toto

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In the contemporary landscape of educational and communication research, characterized by an increasingly visual, interconnected, and constantly evolving ecosystem, Visual Education emerges as an epistemological and operational field of transdisciplinary nature, able to integrate knowledge from pedagogy, digital technologies, visual arts, and cognitive sciences, with the aim of critically interpreting the cultural, cognitive, and social dynamics of contemporaneity

Background. Facial expression recognition depends on how visual information is sampled across the face over time. Static area-of-interest (AOI) measures describe where observers look but provide limited information about the sequential organization of gaze. This study examined how gaze is organized during facial expression recognition and whether this organization remains comparable across two conditions differing in the temporal order of contextual and facial stimuli. Methods. Eye-tracking data were collected from 27 participants performing a facial expression recognition task. Fixations on faces were mapped onto three AOIs: Upper Facial Zone (UFZ), Central Facial Zone (CFZ), and Lower Facial Zone (LFZ). Gaze organization was examined using first- and second-order Markov models, entropy estimates, spatial repositioning measures, and a gaze stability index. Results. Gaze transitions showed a structured, non-random organization centered on the CFZ. In the first-order Markov model, transitions from both the UFZ and LFZ were directed primarily toward the CFZ, and within-zone transitions were also most likely in the CFZ. Entropy was lower for the CFZ than for the upper and lower regions, indicating lower transition uncertainty in the central region. The second-order model showed an influence of recent fixation history while preserving the predominance of the CFZ. Spatial repositioning varied across facial zones in both conditions. However, mixed-effects analyses showed no effect of condition on gaze stability. Conclusions. Facial expression recognition was associated with a pattern of exploration in which the central facial region emerged as the most likely fixation destination, with limited evidence of condition-related differences in gaze organization.

The representation of the sexuality of people with disabilities in contemporary media is often characterized by stereotypes, omissions, and heteronormative narratives that deny the complexity and richness of their emotional experiences. This essay explores the potential of photovoice-based methodology as a tool of visual empowerment to foster processes of authentic and self-aware self-representation through the immersive dynamic that this methodology can activate. Through an interdisciplinary theoretical approach that combines special pedagogy with recent research on digital media and immersive technologies, the study seeks to understand whether virtual spaces can be configured as protected environments in which people with disabilities have the opportunity to explore and communicate their sexual identity. Photovoice thus becomes a tool of narrative resistance that overcomes barriers and counters mediatized representations, often conveyed through dynamics of ableist cyberbullying and online discrimination. The contribution highlights how the combination of participatory visual storytelling and immersive environments can generate new forms of inclusive media literacy, promoting a Visual Education that recognizes and values the diversity of human experiences. Particular attention is devoted to the educational potential of these tools in the training of educators and social workers, as well as in raising awareness within the broader community. The paper proposes a theoretical and methodological framework for the implementation of visual self-representation projects capable of transforming social perceptions of disability and promoting a culture of authentic and respectful inclusion.

Social media represents an ambivalent space for identity construction. While fostering expression, aesthetic filters and idealized models drive homogenization and social comparison. This study explores the tension between authenticity and standardization in visual content production. Focusing on lower secondary school teachers in Foggia, the qualitative research investigates how educators interpret digital manipulation and its impact on self-perception. Through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, the study maps discursive strategies regarding visual identity. These findings emphasize the need for teacher training in visual education, providing an empirical basis for pedagogical reflections on promoting a critical and conscious use of digital tools.

Emotional recognition relies on the integration of multiple affective cues. In everyday contexts, however, facial expressions, vocal prosody, and semantic content may convey incongruent emotional information, generating emotional conflict and increasing cognitive demands. The present study examined how multimodal emotional conflict affects emotion recognition during video viewing, focusing on short videos in which a single actor simultaneously conveyed incongruent emotional cues across facial, vocal, and semantic channels. Forty-seven undergraduate students completed a gaze-based response task in which, after each short video, they provided a single judgment of the overall emotion conveyed by the stimulus. The videos depicted either congruent or incongruent combinations of semantic content, facial expressions, and vocal prosody across six basic emotions and a neutral condition. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVAs and generalized linear mixed-effects models. Accuracy was consistently higher for congruent than incongruent stimuli across all domains, indicating a robust emotional interference effect. Critically, the magnitude of this effect differed by domain. Semantic content showed the largest performance reduction under incongruence, followed by facial expression and vocal prosody. Mixed-effects models confirmed these effects while accounting for participant- and item-level variability and revealed a significant Congruency × Domain interaction. In a gaze-based response task requiring a single overall emotion judgment, emotional conflict disrupted recognition in a domain-specific manner, with semantic information being particularly vulnerable to multimodal interference.

Image communication represents a fundamental domain of human experience that intersects cognitive neuroscience, educational psychology, and visual communication theory. The increasing digitalization of contemporary society has amplified the importance of visual literacy, defined as the ability to interpret, use, and create visual media. While neuroscientific research highlights the brain’s proficiency in processing visual information, significant gaps remain in understanding the underlying psychological mechanisms and their practical applications in educational contexts. This study proposes a multidisciplinary research design to systematically analyze these psychological dimensions. The research will integrate cognitive, perceptual, and pedagogical perspectives to understand how visual representations influence learning. The methodological design includes a multi-method approach combining experimental analysis, ethnographic observation, and psychometric evaluation on a stratified sample of 240 participants (aged 16–25) divided into three groups: high school students (n = 80), university students (n = 80), and young professionals (n = 80). The proposed methodology will utilize eye-tracking to analyze visual perception patterns, integrated with semantic differential methods to evaluate cognitive and affective associations with visual imagery. The expected results should clarify how the effectiveness of image communication depends on the coherence between technical and semantic aspects of visual imagery. The research aims to contribute to the theoretical framework of educational neuroscience, offering empirical evidence for optimizing teaching strategies based on multimodal visual communication.