THE PROCESS OF LEARNING FROM SMALL-SCALE MAPS

Two experiments are reported that test the general hypothesis that lea rning from a small scale map proceeds in a global to local fashion, st ructured by the spatial subdivisions present in the map. In Experiment 1, a fairly simple map depicting a single fictitious country containi ng provinces and cities was used as the to-be-learned stimulus. Eviden ce for a provincial to capital to city learning process was found, wit h map recall best when subjects used an imagery learning strategy. In Experiment 2, a more complex map containing multiple countries, with p rovincial and city elements present was used. The global to local lear ning process was replicated, as well as the beneficial effects of an i magery study strategy. Results are discussed in terms of progressive i mage differentiation and total information set size.