Memory for topographic contour maps

Map reading is becoming recognized as an information processing task. This research compared the memory for topographic contour maps in experimental samples who had answered questions about contours during a 20‐minute inspection phase, and in control samples who had answered questions about distances on the map and determined several six‐figure map references during a similar inspection period. The samples were selected from 13–15‐year‐old pupils and university students. Sixty‐three per cent of the subjects in the experimental samples correctly recognized the original map from a collection of five similar maps after a 20‐minute time interval whereas only 11 per cent of those in the control samples could do so. Geography experience was not a factor in this result. The principal unit or chunk for encoding seemed to be valleys rather than hill tops. It was concluded that map reading can legitimately be treated as an information processing activity and that memory processes relating to contour maps have similar characteristics to those demonstrated in other more traditional information processing tasks in psychology

Cartography · Cognitive psychology · Contour line · Control (management) · Encoding (memory) · Geography · Information processing · Linguistics · Pattern recognition (psychology) · Principal (computer security) · Reading (process) · Task (project management) · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning · Psychology · Spatial Cognition and Navigation · Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes

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