The Influence of Web Maps and Education on Adolescents’ Global-scale Cognitive Map

Lapon, Lieselot; Maeyer, Philippe De; Wit, Bart De; Dupont, Lien; Vanhaeren, Nina; Ooms, Kristien

doi:10.1080/00087041.2019.1660512

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In particular, the impact of the Mercator projection has been discussed extensively among experts [6,7]. However, an influence of map projections specifically on the development of the global-scale cognitive map could not yet be found [17,23]. This could be the result of datasets which were limited in variance and number of participants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Map Projections on People’s Global-Scale Cognitive Map: A Worldwide Study

Lapon

Ooms

Maeyer

2020

IJGI

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Map projections are required to represent the globe on a flat surface, which always results in distorted representations of the globe. Accordingly, the world maps we observe in daily life contexts, such as on news sites, in news bulletins, on social media, in educational textbooks or atlases, are distorted images of the world. The question raises if regular contact with those representations of the world deforms people’s global-scale cognitive map. To analyze people’s global-scale cognitive map and if it is influenced by map projections, a short playful test was developed that allowed participants to estimate the real land area of certain regions, countries, and continents. More than 130,000 people worldwide participated. This worldwide dataset was used to perform statistical analyses in order to obtain information on the extent that map projections influence the accuracy of people’s global-scale cognitive map. The results indicate that the accuracy differs with the map projection but not to the extent that one’s global-scale cognitive map is a reflection of a particular map projection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Map Projections on People’s Global-Scale Cognitive Map: A Worldwide Study

Lapon

Ooms

Maeyer

2020

IJGI

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“…In later works, methods of statistical processing of spatial information began to be used (Kitchin, 1996). The influence of the quality of teaching and teaching aids on the characteristics of cognitive maps in adolescents and young people has been revealed (Lapon et al, 2020). Interesting studies of the perception of the city using cognitive maps have also been done in Russian psychology (Timofeeva, 2013;Veselkova, 2010).…”

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adjustment To University And Spatial Environment Perception By Students

VASILENKO¹

2021

European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

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The article presents the results of the study of correlation between the perception of urban space and the adjustment to the university life among first-year students of the Pedagogical University. The adjustment to the university life was also studied using the feedback form the Adjustment to University and the perception of urban space was studied based on the method of research of cognitive maps according to S. Milgram. The images created by students, called the cognitive maps, can be divided into several types according to the subjective organization of space, i.e. geographical, topographic, fragmentary. It was revealed that the adjustment to the university and the nature of the subjective organization of spatial information were related. A higher level of adjustment is associated with a greater number of objects depicted by students. As for the reasons of the revealed connections, various explanations are possible. On the one hand, those students who adjust better, participate more actively in the public life, visit a wider range of city objects using the city maps on regular basis. As a result, the image of the city in their minds becomes more holistic and geographically defined. However, the connection can also be inverse: A high level of spatial information structuring can be associated with a higher level of intelligence and information culture of the individual, which allows him or her to better adjust to the new environment. It is possible that both explanations are fair in their own way and the correlation is of two-way nature.

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“…This experiment is part of broader research [48] concerning the global-scale cognitive map. While the first study analyzed the influence of education [49], the second study presented in this paper investigates the impact of the use of web maps by examining the potential existence of the Mercator effect. Moreover, the information collected by extensive questionnaires provides data about the personal characteristics of participants.…”

Section: Objectives Of the Research Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Young People’s Area Estimation of Countries and Continents

Lapon

Maeyer

Vanhaeren

et al. 2019

IJGI

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For decades, cartographers and cognitive scientists have speculated about the influence of map projections on mental representations of the world. The development of Web 2.0 and web mapping services at the beginning of the 21st century—such as Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, and Baidu Map—led to an enormous spread of cartographic data, which is available to every Internet user. Nevertheless, the cartographic properties of these map services, and, in particular, the selected map projection or the Web Mercator projection, are questionable. The goal of this study is to investigate if the global-scale mental map of young people has been influenced by the increasing availability of web maps and the Web Mercator projection. An application was developed that allowed participants of Belgium and the US to scale the land area of certain countries and continents compared to Europe or the conterminous United States. The results show that the participants’ estimation of the actual land area is quite accurate. Moreover, an indication of the existence of a Mercator effect could not be discovered. To conclude, the young people’s mental map of the world does not appear to be influenced by a specific map projection but by personal characteristics. These elements are varied and require further analysis.

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The Influence of Web Maps and Education on Adolescents’ Global-scale Cognitive Map

Cited by 5 publications

References 34 publications

The Influence of Map Projections on People’s Global-Scale Cognitive Map: A Worldwide Study

The Influence of Map Projections on People’s Global-Scale Cognitive Map: A Worldwide Study

Adjustment To University And Spatial Environment Perception By Students

Evaluating Young People’s Area Estimation of Countries and Continents

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