Application of GIS to the communication of geographic information and assistance of navigation for women and elderly people

本课题的研究成果总结如下：(1)对空间认知与地图的理论与实践问题进行综述，发现数字化促进了以用户为导向的地图制作；使地图制作者对地图使用的环境敏感。(2)开发了一种基于缓冲操作的GIS草图分析方法，并将其应用于日裔巴西人和日本人的对比。(3)通过对导航技能与地图使用关系的问卷调查发现，空间能力自信程度较低的女性对导览地图的依赖程度较高，而方向感较好的男性则经常使用多用途地图(如：（地形图）。(4)建立了由点分布生成的地图表面分布的感知模型，并将其应用于犯罪地图，验证了该模型的有效性。(5)通过SDQ-S问卷对老年人和年轻人的方向感进行比较发现，两组之间的空间能力差异不大，但老年人的“地标性记忆”能力不如年轻人，这是由于情景记忆随着年龄的增长而退化。

The results of this research project are summarized as follows.(1) A review of the literatures on theoretical and practical issues of spatial cognition and maps revealed that the digitization has promoted user-oriented map making,. making map makers sensitive to the context of map use.(2) We developed a method for analyzing sketch maps with GIS using buffer operation and applied it to a comparison between Japanese Brazilians and Japanese people.(3) A questionnaire survey on the relationship between navigational skills and map use revealed that women with low confidence in their spatial abilities rely heavily on guide maps while men with better sense of directions frequently use multipurpose maps(e.g., topographical maps).(4) A perceptual model of maps representing a surface distribution generated from a point distribution was developed and its validity was demonstrated by applying it to crime maps.(5) Comparison of the sense of direction by a questionnaire(SDQ-S) between elderly and young people revealed that there is little difference in the spatial abilities between two groups, though the ability at "landmark memory" of the elderly is inferior to that of young people owing to the deterioration of episodic memory with aging.