Colloquium Details
Factors Affecting Map Reading
| Author: | Amy Lobben Department of Geography, University of Oregon |
|---|---|
| Date: | January 13, 2005 |
| Time: | 3:30 |
| Location: | 220 Deschutes |
| Host: | Michal Young |
Abstract
Map making has been an activity conducted for thousands of years. Cartography was first founded and recognized as a discipline with the first academic textbook written nearly 2,000 years ago. In all the time since, cartographers have been concerned with making maps and making maps better. This concern continues to permeate the discipline and guides much cartographic research. This presentation will identify some of the areas in which cartographers are conducting research and will then discuss a research project aimed at understanding factors affecting map reading and perception.
In three separate testing events, nearly 100 human subject volunteers were asked to complete several tasks, each of which represented an individual task encountered when navigating in an environment with the aid of a map. Statistical analyses reveal significant differences between task performance. A follow-up study asked subjects to complete two of the tasks while undergoing an fMRI. Significant task performance differences were once again noted. fMRI images are still in analyses, but early results show a potential difference in localization of activity of task performance and possibly a slight variation between male and female subjects.