Studies on the communication of spatial information and navigation with maps

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The findings obtained in this research project are summarized as follows :(1) A questionnaire survey concerning the map use of university students reveals that interest in map is related to not only the type of map used but also the computer literacy.(2) Examination of the relationship between class interval in choropleth map and information received by the map reader demonstrates that map makers must carefully choose suitable method for cartographic representation by considering the rules of visualization and data processing.(3) The result of the analysis of the cognitive process of map reading by recording eye movements of map-readers indicates some differences in visual search between experts and novices, implying a top-down nature of the map reading process.(4) An experiment on the conditions for communicating geographic information and navigation with guide maps shows that performance of map reading and navigation is much affected by map reader's spatial abilities rather than style of the map.(5) The scores of sense of direction questionnaire (SDQ-S) are closely related to the performance of spatial tasks.(6) Effectiveness of map use in a new subject of the elementary school in Japan is discussed by considering gender differences of spatial abilities.(7) A content analysis of the guide maps of United States and Japan shows that their cartographic properties reflect differences in postal address and street system between these countries.