Learning spatial prototypes.
A study was conducted to investigate the ways in which map information is encoded and stored in memory as a prototypical representation. A sample of 40 subjects learned the nature of four categories of maps by viewing individual maps that represent examples of the categories. The prototypes of the...
| Published in: | Annals of the Association of American Geographers Vol. 84; pp. 418 - 441 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
September 1994
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| Summary: | A study was conducted to investigate the ways in which map information is encoded and stored in memory as a prototypical representation. A sample of 40 subjects learned the nature of four categories of maps by viewing individual maps that represent examples of the categories. The prototypes of the categories were defined by differences in the position, size, and alignment of an island on the maps. Subjects then assessed all possible maps to ascertain how typical each map is to the category. Results indicated that subjects can encode the predicted prototypes. These findings imply that the order of the maps in the learning sequences influences how clearly the prototypes are defined. The best learning experience seems to occur when maps with prototypical characteristics are shown early in the series. |
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