The influence of two sources of individual differences in acquiring knowledge from maps was studied: abilities and learning procedures. Twenty-five undergraduate students provided verbal protocols while attempting to learn two maps, and six effective learning procedures were identified: partitioning, imagery, memory-directed sampling, pattern…

Individual difference variables that are potentially related to cognitive mapping skills were examined, and good and poor cognitive mappers were compared in terms of those variables. Good and poor cognitive mappers were identified on the basis of the accuracy of their spatial knowledge about their own community. Four categories of individual…

This study investigates the strategies people use to acquire knowledge from maps. Among the questions examined were (1) what distinguishes poor learners from good learners, and (2) how do the learning strategies of map-using experts differ from those of nonexpert learners? Eight subjects participated in the study. Five were undergraduate students…

Two experiments investigated learners' procedures in acquiring knowledge from maps. The better learners used successful techniques for encoding spatial information, evaluating their progress, focusing attention on unlearned information, and partitioning the map by spatial region or concept. Visual memory ability was also important. (Author/GDC)

This paper discusses a study to determine the influence of study procedures on success at map-learning tasks. The hypothesis was that subjects who used certain (effective) learning procedures would perform better than subjects who stressed other (less effective) techniques. The effective procedures set comprised techniques for learning spatial…

This paper investigates how people acquire knowledge from maps. Emphasis is placed on heuristics--defined as the procedures that people use to select, combine, and encode map information in memory. The objective is to develop a theory of expertise in map learning by analyzing differences between fast and slow learners in terms of differences in…

This research attempts to diagnose the skills required for successful spatial performance in order to provide a theoretical foundation for military training in such tasks as map reading, surveying, and navigation. It is known that successful performance on spatial tasks depends on task requirements (e.g., requisite knowledge, alternative paths to…