%0 Report %A Audley, R. J., Bickmore, D. P. & Phillips, R. J. %D 1974 %T Legibility criteria for the efficient use of maps %I Department of Psychology, University College London %9 Final report to the United Kingdom Social Science Research Council for project HR 2167. %0 Report %A Audley, R.J. & Phillips, R. J. %D 1981 %T Legibility criteria for maps %I Department of Psychology, University College London %9 Final report to the United Kingdom Social Science Research Council for project HR 2917/1 %0 Journal Article %A Noyes, L. %D 1980 %T The positioning of type on maps: the effect of surrounding material on word recognition time %J Human Factors %V 22 %N 3 %P 353-360 %X Two visual search experiments, one of which measured eye movements, show that material close to words on a map-like display has a proximity effect which prolongs the word recognition time. This effect is particularly pronounced if the material is, a) very close to the first letter of the word, and b) of a similar size to the word, or component letters. Possible causes of the effect are discussed and the practical application for maps and other displays considered. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J., De Lucia, A. & Skelton, N. %D 1975 %T Some objective tests of the legibility of relief maps %J Cartographic Journal %V 12 %P 39-46 %X The legibility of four different types of relief map (contours, contours with hill shading, layer tints and digital or spot height maps) was compared using 13 different map reading test questions administered to 179 subjects. Many of the questions showed large and statistically significant differences between the four types of map, but no single type of map was best for all purposes. The results demonstrate that the choice of an appropriate relief map has a very real effect on the map reader's performance, and that this choice must depend on the way the map is to be used. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J. & Noyes, L. %D 1977 %T Searching for names in two city street maps %J Applied Ergonomics %V 8 %N 2 %P 73-77 %X Two experiments investigated the speed with which names could be found on maps from two London street atlases. Differences in grid referencing between the maps accounted for large differences in search times. However, small statistically significant differences were still present when grid references were not being used, and these cannot be explained in terms of map scale, nor in terms of greater familiarity with the faster map. Several design differences could have contributed to this effect and it is likely that the use of lower case type on the faster map was an important factor. Implications for the map designer are discussed. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J., Noyes, L. & Audley, R. J. %D 1977 %T The legibility of type on maps %J Ergonomics %V 20 %N 6 %P 671-682 %X In order to make practical recommendations to the map designer on type legibility, an experimental study was carried out using four map reading tasks to assess the effect of typographical variable on the map reader's performance. These included typeface, weight, size and case. Two hundred and fifty six undergraduates acted as subjects and many statistically significant differences were found. The principal recommendation is that names should be set in a typeface of normal weight in lower case with an initial capital. However, when names are very difficult to pronounce and need to be copied accurately, capitals are recommended. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J., Noyes, E. & Audley, R. J. %D 1978 %T Searching for names on maps %J Cartographic Journal %V 15 %N 2 %P 72-77 %X It is argued that the best way to evaluate map typography is to measure the time taken to find names on a map. Eye movement recording demonstrates that this search time depends on two independent factors: the number of names fixated with the eyes and the mean fixation time. Changes in map design usually affect only one of these factors. For example, typographic coding can reduce the average number of fixations but an increase in point size reduces mean fixation time. This discussion leads to some recommendations on type legibility. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J. & Noyes, L. %D 1978 %T An objective comparison of relief maps produced with the SYMAP & SYMVU programs %J Bulletin of the Society of University Cartographers %V 12 %N 2 %P 13-25 %X 123 university students answered a series of questions which measured their speed and accuracy in using relief maps produced by the computer programs SYMAP and SYMVU. Most questions produced statistically significant differences between the four types of map investigated and, on all of these, a layer version of SYMAP was superior to two types of SYMVU map. It appears that the pictorial appeal of SYMVU is misleading and that a layer version of SYMAP is better for extracting information. In general, the results are consistent with a previous experiment which tested conventional relief maps. %O This journal is not easy to find in libraries. Email Richard.Phillips@nottingham.ac.uk if you want a reprint. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J. %D 1979 %T An experiment with contour lines %J Cartographic Journal %V 16 %N 2 %P 72-76 %X Map readers are generally faster and more accurate in interpreting relief from layer tint maps than from contour maps. This paper discusses methods of improving contour maps and reports an experiment where conventional contours were compared with contour lines elaborated to produce a 'wedding cake' effect, but this elaboration did not improve performance. The main problem for adults when reading contour maps may be a difficulty in integrating small areas of relief in order to visualise a larger area. If this is correct, no simple elaboration of contour lines will help the map reader unless it gives contours the conspicuity which layer tint colours have in peripheral vision. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J. %D 1979 %T Why is lower case better? Some data from a search task %J Applied Ergonomics %V 10 %N 4 %P 211-214 %K maps %X Words set in capital letters are less legible than in lower case when reading text, searching for newspaper headlines, or finding a name on a map. The difference is usually attributed to the distinctive shape of lower case words, but lower case setting also emphasises capital letters at the start of sentences and for proper names. In the experiment reported here people searched for names on a map-like display. Names set entirely in lower case took significantly longer to find than those set in small capitals with a large initial capital and so, for this task, emphasis given to the initial letter is clearly more important than word shape. This calls into doubt the word shape explanation in other contexts. %0 Conference Proceedings %A Phillips, R. J. %D 1979 %T Making maps easy to read: a summary of research %J Processing of Visible Language I %E Kolers, P.A., Wrolstad, M.E. & Bouma, H. %I New York: Plenum %C Eindhoven, Netherlands %P 165-174 %X Poorly designed maps can seriously reduce the efficiency of the map reader and lead to mistakes which are inconvenient, costly, or even dangerous. Experimental studies of map legibility are beginning to provide the map designer with objective information on topics such as colour coding, relief portrayal, and lettering. Two research groups are active in the United Kingdom and a number elsewhere, particularly in the United States. As testing methods improve, there is a good possibility that designers may be persuaded to use tests themselves to compare alternative map designs. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J., Noyes, E. & Audley R. J. %D 1980 %T Namen opzoeken op kaarten %J Kartografisch Tijdschrift %V 6 %P 33-39 %O Dutch translation of 'Searching for names on maps'. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J. & Noyes, L. %D 1980 %T A comparison of colour & visual texture as codes for use as area symbols on thematic maps %J Ergonomics %V 23 %N 12 %P 1117-1128 %X Three experiments compared colour and texture as methods of coding area symbols for thematic maps. Most previous research has been limited to displays with, at most, eight codes. This study employed displays containing 16 types of symbol coded either by colour, texture, or a non-redundant combination of the two. Symbols coded by colour or a combination of colour and texture were much easier to find than symbols coded by texture alone. Point symbols were easier to locate against a coloured background than a textured background. Texture codes may be slightly easier to remember than colour codes but the difference, if any, is small. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J. %D 1981 %T Estimating the area of peripheral vision employed for map search %J Cartography %V 12 %N 2 %P 104-107 %X This paper describes a simple method for roughly estimating the area of peripheral vision used when searching on a map. As well of being of some theoretical interest, the method suggests a minimum size for maps to be used for perception research. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J. %D 1981 %T Searching for a target in a random arrangement of names: an eye fixation analysis %J Canadian Journal of Psychology %V 35 %N 4 %P 330-346 %K maps %X Four experiments investigated the eye fixations used in searching for names in map-like displays. A typical display was a random arrangement of 20 names all of which were in the same type style and point size. Compared to data from searching for symbols, two differences emerged. Firstly, there was little or no tendency to fixate names which resembled the target. When subjects moved their eyes, they simply fixated one of the nearest names which had not been fixated before, often following a search path characteristic of the individual. Secondly, fixation times were not constant, but were consistently longer on names which resembled the target, for example, fixations on names with the same initial as the target were considerably longer than on names with a different initial. Fixation times were also longer on displays with names set in a small type size. Peripheral vision is important in placing fixations but, from tachistoscopic evidence, it is clear that information which is potentially available in peripheral vision is not always used when searching. The strategies available to the searcher are discussed, and practical implications for map design are considered. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J. & Noyes, L. %D 1982 %T An investigation of visual clutter in the topographic base of a geological map %J Cartographic Journal %V 19 %N 2 %P 122-132 %X Visual clutter on maps is a familiar experience but its precise nature is only poorly understood. Clutter was investigated in an experiment using a 1:50 000 geological map. Twelve representative map reading tasks were used to compare map reading performance on maps which differed only in their topographic base. The aim was to assess the effect of removing topographic symbols which are of only minor importance to the map reader. This reduction in visual clutter significantly improved performance on a number of the questions. Some evidence was obtained to support the hypothesis that line symbols clutter other line symbols, and point symbols clutter other point symbols, but there is little effect between the two. In practical terms the removal of minor point symbols and type led to larger improvements than the removal of minor line symbols, even though more of the latter were deleted. The relevance of the experiment to other geological maps, and to maps in general, is discussed. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J. %D 1982 %T An experimental investigation of layer tints for relief maps in school atlases %J Ergonomics %V 25 %N 12 %P 1143-1154 %X English teenage school children carried out some representative map-reading tasks to evaluate layer tints for use in school atlases. Two spectral colour schemes (loosely following the colours of the spectrum) were compared with two tonal schemes (varying tone, constant hue). Judgements of absolute height were carried out more accurately on the spectral maps, but judgements of relative height were better with the tonal maps. Other questions involving the map base and visualisation of the relief showed no reliable differences between the maps. Spectral schemes have the disadvantage that colours are difficult to order correctly. The problem with tonal schemes is that colours are often hard to discriminate. Innovative design may overcome both these problems but given the alternatives considered here, the tonal maps seem preferable as relative height is more important than absolute height for children using atlases. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R. J. %D 1984 %T Experimental method in cartographic communication: research on relief maps %J Cartographica %V 21 %N 1 %P 120-128 %X This paper considers the use of tests of performance based upon map readers' speed and accuracy to evaluate relief maps. It briefly discusses some results which have been obtained from this approach. The process of creating a mental image from a relief map is seen as a data reduction task with the greatest information load occurring in the early stages of visual processing. It is argued that changes in map design will have their greatest effect in these early stages. The advantages and difficulties of testing are discussed and some recommendations are made for designing experiments which test relief maps. %O Also as Cartographica Monograph 31 "New Insights in Cartographic Communication" edited by Board, C., papers presented at the 2nd International Symposium on Cartographic Communication at the Royal Society, London, September 1983. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R.J. %D 1989 %T Are maps different from other kinds of graphic information? %J Cartographic Journal %V 26 %P 24-25 %X This article considers the similarities and differences between maps and other types of graphic information such as graphs and diagrams. It is argued that all types of graphic information are different solutions to a common problem: the brain's limited capacity to store unprocessed information. %0 Journal Article %A Phillips, R.J., Coe, B., Kono, E., Knapp, J., Barrett, S., Wiseman, G. & Eveleigh, P. %D 1990 %T An experimental approach to the design of cartographic symbols %J Applied Cognitive Psychology %V 4 %P 489-497 %X Graphic designers and an experimental psychologist worked together to improve the design of two map symbols which are frequently confused: the symbols for cuttings and embankments on topographic maps. The problem was analysed in terms of the function of the symbols and their likely cognitive representations. Tests were developed to evaluate alternative designs, including an intervisibility task which required users to visualise the landform from the symbols viewed in the context of a map. Tests were given to schoolchildren and to experienced map users in order to compare the standard symbols with five alternative designs. Children's performance was strongly affected by the symbols they used, but experienced users were much less affected. After some refinement of the symbols a further experiment demonstrated the superiority of a number of alternative designs over the existing symbols on a range of tests: scores were almost double on the intervisibility task. The paper makes recommendations to cartographers and argues for greater consideration of the inexperienced map user in the design process. %O ERRATUM IN THE PUBLISHED PAPER: in Figure 1 the words 'cutting' and 'embankment' should be reversed.