The influence of grids on spatial and content memory

Abstract

In this paper we present an experiment that aims at understanding the influence that (visual) grid-based structuring of user interfaces can have on spatial and content memory. By the term grid we refer to two different aspects. On the one hand, this relates to the structured alignment, the layout of objects on a canvas. On the other hand, a grid can also be indicated visually by inserting lines that form an array which divides a canvas into smaller fields. In both cases we detected a strong positive influence on spatial memory. On content memory, however, grids have a less beneficial influence. Only if grid lines are visible, the structured alignment has a positive effect. On the other hand, the visibility of grid lines always leads to worse results in content memory performance, independent of the spatial arrangement.

The Effects of Grid Line Separation in Topographic Maps for Object Location Memory

“…These results confirm the proposed positive impact of the chunking effect for spatial memory (Clements-Stephens and others 2011 ;Leifert 2011;Hurts 2005;Hommel, Gehrke, and Knuf 2000) but contradict the assumptions of cognitive load theory that adding visual details would rather lead to a performance decline (Moreno and Park 2010;DeLeeuw and Mayer 2008;Bunch and Lloyd 2006;Chandler and Sweller 1996). As indicated earlier (Bestgen and others 2013;Dickmann and others 2013), the impact of grids on spatial memory seems to interact with the complexity and shape of the topographic base map.…”

“…Recent studies on vision research and spatial memory show that artificial structuring elements, such as continuous grid lines, support the perception and recognition of object locations in spatial layouts (Stainer, Scott-Brown, and Tatler 2013;Leifert 2011;Martin and others 2008;Wolfe and others 2002). Grids increase object location memory in spatial layouts where no topography is displayed (Bestgen and others 2013).…”

Memory in Motion

“…For example, fisheye lenses [25], peephole navigation [12,16,23] and systems that allow for an overview [8] or focus and context view [3,19] have been analysed to further understand how these techniques impact on navigation and object relocation. Visualizations like grids and structural alignments of items on a landscape have been found to positively effect spatial memory [15,24].…”

“…We used a well-established and validated task [11,13,15,16,17,22] consisting of a navigation phase and a subsequent object location memory phase (see the video in supplemental materials). Using one of the input modalities, a canvas could be navigated using panning operations.…”

“…As a precondition, we only invited participants that had German as their mother tongue. By this, we avoided possible influences on the memorization of the items due to different linguistic representations of foreign languages similar to [11,15]. The mean age was 24.57 years (SD = 3.62, aged 18-32).…”