Cartographers are frequently faced with the task of designing maps for publications in which space allocated for graphics is small. This study examined the relationship between map size (visual angle) and visual search centrality in light of the findings of Enoch (1959) who reported that a visual angle of 9° was critical to several parameters of visual search. Eye movements for 16 subjects were recorded during three map analysis tasks involving a total of 96 maps in which four different sized graphics were used. Experimental results indicated that the larger the image, the greater the number of fixations. The duration of each fixation, however, was shown to decrease with increasing visual angle. It appears, as suggested by Enoch, that maps at least 9° in size and larger promote visual search centrality and may result in more efficient visual processing.
The importance of brightness difference and its relationship to figural development in cartographic design should be obvious. There is, however, little empirical evidence of the ways in which brightness differences are incorporated in map design and how they influence map readability. This study examined the eye fixations of 16 subjects on three different map-analysis tasks involving a total of 96 different maps, in which graphic structure varied from nonexistent to strong, based on four different levels of brightness or value difference between figure and ground. Results from the first task indicated that brightness difference or contrast had no significant effect on either the number of fixations, their durations, or the abilities of subjects to complete the counting problem successfully. Data from the second and third tasks, on the other hand, revealed that contrast did play the definitive role in task performance. Maps without any contrast between figure and ground generated significantly more and longer fixations and a higher error rate, a reflection of the difficulty subjects experienced in visually processing maps lacking graphic organization.
health sciences, history THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW utpjournals.press/chr Offering a comprehensive analysis on the events that have shaped Canada, CHR publishes articles that examine Canadian history from both a multicultural and multidisciplinary perspective.
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