Cross-cultural differences in figure–ground perception of cartographic stimuli
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Cartography and Geographic Information Science |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Full Text |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15230406.2018.1470575 |
| Keywords | Cultural differences; map reading; visualization; visual perception; user testing |
| Description | This article reports on an empirical study investigating cultural differences in the visuospatial perception and cognition of qualitative point symbols shown on reference maps. We developed two informationally equivalent symbol sets depicted on identical reference maps that were shown to Czech and Chinese map readers. The symbols varied in visual contrast with respect to the base map. Our empirical results suggest the existence of cultural influences on map reading, but not in the predicted direction based on the previous cross-cultural studies. Our findings stress the importance of considering the cultural background of map readers, especially when designing reference maps aimed for global online use. |
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