Research on explanations shows how category prototypicality can affect the the fram-ing of compar... more Research on explanations shows how category prototypicality can affect the the fram-ing of comparative information about social groups. Spontaneous explanations of group differences focus on the attributes of atypical groups and treat the attributes of prototypical groups as the norm. ...
Kulhavy and his colleagues found that when a map and related factual information were learned tog... more Kulhavy and his colleagues found that when a map and related factual information were learned together, the probability of recalling the factual information was greater than when information was learned without a map, or with a list of place names. They account for this finding with their “conjoint retention” hypothesis - a corollary of Paivio’s “dual coding” theory. The present study extended this research by including a group of blind and visually impaired participants who learned a tactile map. Twelve blind and visually impaired participants and forty-eight sighted participants learned either a map (map condition) or a list of place names (list condition) for either 10 minutes or 2 minutes and then heard a text describing places on the map/list. After a filled pause, participants were asked to recall information from the text and, in the map condition, to make a reconstruction of the map. Kulhavy’s original finding was replicated for sighted participants who studied the map/list for 10 minutes. However, sighted participants exposed to the map/list for 2 minutes and blind participants performed at the same level with both the map and with the list. In all cases, differences between conditions were small. Further analyses revealed that encoding of the map’s structure, a crucial variable in Kulhavy’s model, may not have been a major factor in determining recall of factual information.
This paper reports the findings of an international survey that collected data on production meth... more This paper reports the findings of an international survey that collected data on production methods, techniques, outputs and design preferences among tactile map producers, designers and researchers worldwide. A number of consistencies and inconsistencies are identified ...
The three common methods for producing tactile diagrams are mixed-media, swell paper and thermofo... more The three common methods for producing tactile diagrams are mixed-media, swell paper and thermoform. This paper describes a new innovative method for producing tactile diagrams using piezoelectric inkjet technology that overcomes some of the limitations of these methods. A ...
Page 1. The Cartographic Journal lftJI.34 No.2 pp. 93-110 December 1997 93 Strategies for I&a... more Page 1. The Cartographic Journal lftJI.34 No.2 pp. 93-110 December 1997 93 Strategies for I<nowledge Acquisition frotn Cartographic Maps by Blind and Visually Itnpaired Adults Simon Ungar1) Mark Blades) and Christopher Spencer2 ...
Abstract The positive psychological and physical health effects associated with exposure to natur... more Abstract The positive psychological and physical health effects associated with exposure to natural environments are well recognized. However, previous research in this field has focused almost exclusively upon the visual aspects of the environment, largely ignoring the role of the other senses. This paper reassesses these findings by examining the role senses other than sight play in blind people’s experiences of natural environments. Six people with visual impairments were interviewed regarding their experience of natural environments; interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. The analysis revealed that if the participants felt safe, they reported experiencing restorative effects in the majority of natural environments. Three main themes that contribute to an understanding of the processes involved in psychological restoration emerged: restoration, challenges, sources of experiences. Environmental restoration was reported by participants as being mostly experienced through sound and to a lesser extent through touch and smell.
Symbols that could effectively designate direction have the potential to show routes, geographic ... more Symbols that could effectively designate direction have the potential to show routes, geographic phenomena, aid scientific explanation and generally enhance understanding of tactile maps and diagrams. In this study, 41 tactile symbols, including subsets of arrow symbols and stair symbols, were investigated for effectiveness at indicating direction. The symbols were presented to blind or blindfolded participants, and qualitative and quantitative responses regarding the symbol orientation and meaning were recorded. The arrow symbols with the greatest agreement across participants as to which direction the symbol intended to convey were basic arrows and the arrowhead. In the case of a line with a saw-tooth surface profile that felt rough when traced by the finger in one direction and smooth in the opposite, participants were split between those intuitively thinking the rough or the smooth was the direction being indicated. Stair symbols with a greater degree of threedimensionality gave marginally increased agreement as to which way was up.
For the blind, 'spatial entities which can never be seen fully&a... more For the blind, 'spatial entities which can never be seen fully' are not just the large entities discussed elsewhere in this special issue, but include immediate geographical spaces. This paper briefly reviews the ways the blind child constructs space, challenges the long-held belief among ...
Abstract: The way in which children who have visual impairments construct cognitive maps of their... more Abstract: The way in which children who have visual impairments construct cognitive maps of their environment is of considerable theoretical and practical importance. It sheds light on the role of sensory experience in the development of spatial cognition which can in turn ...
Tactile maps are raised line images used to convey spatial information to blind and visually impa... more Tactile maps are raised line images used to convey spatial information to blind and visually impaired people. The elevation (protrusion off the page) of tactile features varies widely, often dependent of the method used to produce the map. Although it is clear that a certain elevation is required, the minimum elevation at which tactile maps can be used is not known. In a series of three studies, two abstract psychophysical tasks and one more practical search task, we investigated the minimum elevation for tactile graphics. Participants were able to identify shapes at a very low elevation (0.007 mm) in abstract and simple tasks. However, due to the abstract nature of such tasks, it is problematic to attempt to translate these findings directly into tactile map design. In a subsequent study, participants performed a more realistic task. Participants performance improved considerably as elevation was increased up to 0.16 mm. However, a further increase in elevation did not significant...
Most research on tactile maps has focused on aspects of map design and methods of construction. R... more Most research on tactile maps has focused on aspects of map design and methods of construction. Relatively little attention has been paid to theway in which blind and visually impaired people actually use tactile maps for everyday way finding tasks. This paper reports on studies carried out in Madrid and Sheffield which consider how people gain spatial knowledge from tactile maps. In the Madrid study, participants were introduced to an urban area by one of three instructional methods: direct experience, tactile map or verbal description. Those who learned the area with the map were considerably more proficient in following the route unguided than were participants who received the other two instructional methods. However the different methods had little effect on the participants' overall representation of the space. It is possible that the map reading strategies used by the participants were effective for gaining practical route-based knowledge but did not give the participants...
This experiment investigated self-location by 26 visually impaired children using a large layout ... more This experiment investigated self-location by 26 visually impaired children using a large layout of landmarks, through which the children walked each of a number of routes holding a tactile map that was aligned or rotated relative to the layout. The children pointed to their position on the map as they walked along a route. On the majority of trials, the children correctly traced the route they walked and worked out their position on the map. Although the type of route (those with unique, clear landmarks versus those with nonunique, ambiguous landmarks) and the use of a strategy affected performance, the alignment of maps did not.
Research on explanations shows how category prototypicality can affect the the fram-ing of compar... more Research on explanations shows how category prototypicality can affect the the fram-ing of comparative information about social groups. Spontaneous explanations of group differences focus on the attributes of atypical groups and treat the attributes of prototypical groups as the norm. ...
Kulhavy and his colleagues found that when a map and related factual information were learned tog... more Kulhavy and his colleagues found that when a map and related factual information were learned together, the probability of recalling the factual information was greater than when information was learned without a map, or with a list of place names. They account for this finding with their “conjoint retention” hypothesis - a corollary of Paivio’s “dual coding” theory. The present study extended this research by including a group of blind and visually impaired participants who learned a tactile map. Twelve blind and visually impaired participants and forty-eight sighted participants learned either a map (map condition) or a list of place names (list condition) for either 10 minutes or 2 minutes and then heard a text describing places on the map/list. After a filled pause, participants were asked to recall information from the text and, in the map condition, to make a reconstruction of the map. Kulhavy’s original finding was replicated for sighted participants who studied the map/list for 10 minutes. However, sighted participants exposed to the map/list for 2 minutes and blind participants performed at the same level with both the map and with the list. In all cases, differences between conditions were small. Further analyses revealed that encoding of the map’s structure, a crucial variable in Kulhavy’s model, may not have been a major factor in determining recall of factual information.
This paper reports the findings of an international survey that collected data on production meth... more This paper reports the findings of an international survey that collected data on production methods, techniques, outputs and design preferences among tactile map producers, designers and researchers worldwide. A number of consistencies and inconsistencies are identified ...
The three common methods for producing tactile diagrams are mixed-media, swell paper and thermofo... more The three common methods for producing tactile diagrams are mixed-media, swell paper and thermoform. This paper describes a new innovative method for producing tactile diagrams using piezoelectric inkjet technology that overcomes some of the limitations of these methods. A ...
Page 1. The Cartographic Journal lftJI.34 No.2 pp. 93-110 December 1997 93 Strategies for I&a... more Page 1. The Cartographic Journal lftJI.34 No.2 pp. 93-110 December 1997 93 Strategies for I<nowledge Acquisition frotn Cartographic Maps by Blind and Visually Itnpaired Adults Simon Ungar1) Mark Blades) and Christopher Spencer2 ...
Abstract The positive psychological and physical health effects associated with exposure to natur... more Abstract The positive psychological and physical health effects associated with exposure to natural environments are well recognized. However, previous research in this field has focused almost exclusively upon the visual aspects of the environment, largely ignoring the role of the other senses. This paper reassesses these findings by examining the role senses other than sight play in blind people’s experiences of natural environments. Six people with visual impairments were interviewed regarding their experience of natural environments; interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. The analysis revealed that if the participants felt safe, they reported experiencing restorative effects in the majority of natural environments. Three main themes that contribute to an understanding of the processes involved in psychological restoration emerged: restoration, challenges, sources of experiences. Environmental restoration was reported by participants as being mostly experienced through sound and to a lesser extent through touch and smell.
Symbols that could effectively designate direction have the potential to show routes, geographic ... more Symbols that could effectively designate direction have the potential to show routes, geographic phenomena, aid scientific explanation and generally enhance understanding of tactile maps and diagrams. In this study, 41 tactile symbols, including subsets of arrow symbols and stair symbols, were investigated for effectiveness at indicating direction. The symbols were presented to blind or blindfolded participants, and qualitative and quantitative responses regarding the symbol orientation and meaning were recorded. The arrow symbols with the greatest agreement across participants as to which direction the symbol intended to convey were basic arrows and the arrowhead. In the case of a line with a saw-tooth surface profile that felt rough when traced by the finger in one direction and smooth in the opposite, participants were split between those intuitively thinking the rough or the smooth was the direction being indicated. Stair symbols with a greater degree of threedimensionality gave marginally increased agreement as to which way was up.
For the blind, 'spatial entities which can never be seen fully&a... more For the blind, 'spatial entities which can never be seen fully' are not just the large entities discussed elsewhere in this special issue, but include immediate geographical spaces. This paper briefly reviews the ways the blind child constructs space, challenges the long-held belief among ...
Abstract: The way in which children who have visual impairments construct cognitive maps of their... more Abstract: The way in which children who have visual impairments construct cognitive maps of their environment is of considerable theoretical and practical importance. It sheds light on the role of sensory experience in the development of spatial cognition which can in turn ...
Tactile maps are raised line images used to convey spatial information to blind and visually impa... more Tactile maps are raised line images used to convey spatial information to blind and visually impaired people. The elevation (protrusion off the page) of tactile features varies widely, often dependent of the method used to produce the map. Although it is clear that a certain elevation is required, the minimum elevation at which tactile maps can be used is not known. In a series of three studies, two abstract psychophysical tasks and one more practical search task, we investigated the minimum elevation for tactile graphics. Participants were able to identify shapes at a very low elevation (0.007 mm) in abstract and simple tasks. However, due to the abstract nature of such tasks, it is problematic to attempt to translate these findings directly into tactile map design. In a subsequent study, participants performed a more realistic task. Participants performance improved considerably as elevation was increased up to 0.16 mm. However, a further increase in elevation did not significant...
Most research on tactile maps has focused on aspects of map design and methods of construction. R... more Most research on tactile maps has focused on aspects of map design and methods of construction. Relatively little attention has been paid to theway in which blind and visually impaired people actually use tactile maps for everyday way finding tasks. This paper reports on studies carried out in Madrid and Sheffield which consider how people gain spatial knowledge from tactile maps. In the Madrid study, participants were introduced to an urban area by one of three instructional methods: direct experience, tactile map or verbal description. Those who learned the area with the map were considerably more proficient in following the route unguided than were participants who received the other two instructional methods. However the different methods had little effect on the participants' overall representation of the space. It is possible that the map reading strategies used by the participants were effective for gaining practical route-based knowledge but did not give the participants...
This experiment investigated self-location by 26 visually impaired children using a large layout ... more This experiment investigated self-location by 26 visually impaired children using a large layout of landmarks, through which the children walked each of a number of routes holding a tactile map that was aligned or rotated relative to the layout. The children pointed to their position on the map as they walked along a route. On the majority of trials, the children correctly traced the route they walked and worked out their position on the map. Although the type of route (those with unique, clear landmarks versus those with nonunique, ambiguous landmarks) and the use of a strategy affected performance, the alignment of maps did not.
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