The Effect of Experience on Reading Topographic Relief Information: Analyses of Performance and Eye Movements

Abstract

Cartographers believe that experience plays a central role in high-order map reading tasks. The effect of experience on topographic map reading was tested in an experiment in which subjects viewed ten maps while their eye movements were recorded, and answered questions on absolute and relative heights. Experienced readers performed better on the questionnaire test, especially for the relative height portion. For maps that had distinctive relief features, experienced readers had shorter fixation durations (indicating less processing difficulty) and higher numbers of fixations (indicating greater attention) to areas containing absolute heights. Visual search by experienced readers was apparently guided by familiar patterns of contour lines that they had developed through experience.