Shedding Light on the Graph Schema: Perceptual Features vs. Invariant Structure

Abstract

Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. Most theories of graph comprehension posit the existence of a graph schema to account for people's prior knowledge of how to understand different graph types. The graph schema is, however, a purely theoretical construct: there are no empirical studies that have explicitly examined the nature of the graph schema. We sought to determine whether graph schemas are based on perceptual features or on a common invariant structure shared between certain graphs. The process of activating the graph schema was isolated as participants responded to graphs presented in pure and mixed blocks. Any differences in reaction time between the blocks could be attributed to loading the appropriate schema. Results from a series of experiments using five types of graphs suggest graph schemas are based on the graphical framework, a common invariant structure among certain types of graphs. These results provide insight into the comprehension of novel graphs. REPORT DATE

Thinking about the weather: How display salience and knowledge affect performance in a graphic inference task.

“…Display-based problem solving is also enhanced by knowledge of graphic conventions, for example conventional mappings between visual variables and conceptual variables (color indicates temperature) or knowledge that a given mapping will be indicated by the axes labels and legend (Shah et al, 2005). This conventional knowledge has been referred to as a graph schema (Pinker, 1990; Ratwani & Trafton, 2008).…”