The Interface Of Cognitive And Psychophysical Research In Cartography

Abstract

The interface of psychophysical and cognitive research is not an edge but an intersection. This has important implications for cartographers who often turn to the discipline of psychology for theory and methods that can be applied to the study of maps and map-use. In the past, cartographers frequently have taken a psychophysical viewpoint in their experiments. This approach has been criticized, however, and recently, a few studies have appeared which employed a cognitive or an integrated cognitive/psychophysical viewpoint. The position is taken here that there is a need in cartographic research for all three kinds of experiments: the primarily-psychophysical, the primarily cognitive, and the integrated psychophysical/cognitive. This belief is based on two factors: 1 there are certain cartographic questions that can best be answered through a specific experimental paradigm; and 2 the interaction between cognitive and psychophysical relationships in perception creates the need for some understanding of both in order to understand either. Examples are given as to how this interface can be used constructively by cartographers in their research and how it may intrude upon and confound the results of some studies.

The Cognitive Load of Geographic Information

“…Other researchers placed emphasis on the map user. This research has been concerned with understanding the cognitive processes associated with map users' thought processes, prior experience, spatial abilities, and memory (Olson 1979;Gilmartin 1981;Blades and Spencer 1986). A number of more recent cognitive studies have used visual perceptual tasks to explore the effects of symbols and color on maps (Brennon and Lloyd 1993;Nelson 1995;Lloyd 1997;Bunch 1999;Bunch and Lloyd 2000) and others have emphasized the effects of prior experience, differences in spatial abilities, and memory on various map-processing tasks (Montello et al 1999;Bunch 2000;Lloyd, Hodgson, and Stokes 2002;Montello 2002;Lloyd and Bunch 2003).…”

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Representing Numeric Information Through Abstract Graphics in 3D Desktop Virtual Environments

“…In combination, this series of studies that draw upon psychophysical, cognitive and user-centred approaches (e.g. Gilmartin, 1981, Slocum et al, 2001Fuhrmann et al, 2005) will help to advance our understanding of the use of geovisualisation with 3D desktop virtual environments as an analytical device 'in-vivo' and to develop appropriate recommendations and practice.…”

fMRI and Human Subjects Research in Cartography

“…The cartographic literature saw explicit calls for this shift toward cognitive studies (Gilmartin 1981;Olson 1979Olson , 1984 as well as for changes in empirical research, though to what extent the research was inspiring the recognition of need for the shift and vice versa is difficult to gauge. Nevertheless, the strictly psychophysical study went out of favour, and there was soul-searching as to what it had really done for cartography.…”