Human Factors and Behavioral Science: Experiments on Quantitative Judgements of Graphs and Maps

With the proliferation of computer graphics, there is an increasing reliance on visual displays to convey quantitative information. Maps, graphs, and diagrams have been in use for a long time, but in recent years the variety, complexity, and ease of preparing such visual displays have increased greatly. It is often assumed that visual displays allow people to quickly and accurately appreciate quantitative information and relationships that might be much harder to grasp from other representations, such as tables of numbers, equations, or verbal * Bell Laboratories. ®Copyright 1983, American Telephone & Telegraph Company. Copying in printed form for private use is permitted without payment of royalty provided that each reproduction is done without alteration and that the Journal reference and copyright notice are included on the first page. The title and abstract, but no other portions, of this paper may be copied or distributed royalty free by computer-based and other informationservice systems without further permission. Permission to reproduce or republish any other portion of this paper must be obtained from the Editor.