Citation

Lewandowsky S, Herrmann DJ, Behrens JT, Li SC, Pickle L, Jobe JB. Appl. Cogn. Psychol. 1993; 7(6): 533-551.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/acp.2350070606

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Two experiments observed performance on a cluster identification task across a variety of common statistical maps. Stimulus maps displayed mortality rates for several diseases and subjects had to identify regions of the map that were perceived to form a cluster of particularly high (or low) mortality. Subjects marked the perceived centroid of each cluster, and analyses focused on the dispersion of centroid location across subjects. Under these circumstances, monochrome classed choropleth maps were found to minimize dispersion, compared to a two opposing colours scheme, a dot density map, a pie map, and a categorical (hue-based) colour scheme. Maps using a familiar geographical unit (i. e. a U. S. state) supported better recall of the information than maps using less familiar and smaller geographical units. The results were found to be interpretable within current cognitive theory.

Language: en