Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

VISUAL SEARCH CENTRALITY AND MINIMUM MAP SIZE

1993; University of Toronto Press; Volume: 30; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3138/6mrl-3547-07th-l528

1911-9925

Clifford H. Wood,

Geographic Information Systems Studies

Cartographers are frequently faced with the task of designing maps for publications in which space allocated for graphics is small. This study examined the relationship between map size (visual angle) and visual search centrality in light of the findings of Enoch (1959) who reported that a visual angle of 9° was critical to several parameters of visual search. Eye movements for 16 subjects were recorded during three map analysis tasks involving a total of 96 maps in which four different sized graphics were used. Experimental results indicated that the larger the image, the greater the number of fixations. The duration of each fixation, however, was shown to decrease with increasing visual angle. It appears, as suggested by Enoch, that maps at least 9° in size and larger promote visual search centrality and may result in more efficient visual processing.