mapmaking from memory

[gusl]

I'm very interested in modeling how people draw maps from memory. They use many kinds of information regarding distances between cities, angles along coastlines and borders, shapes and sizes of areas, etc, that somehow must come together coherently (and hopefully approximately correctly).

Since the piece of paper enforces coherence for free, it would be a waste of memory resources for humans to try to enforce it in their head.

It's interesting to ponder how people integrate conflicting information. This is just like... probability elicitation!

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_tove/]

You might be interested in this chapter from Donald Appleyard's Why Buildings Are Known:
https://www.library.cmu.edu/reserves/hlermondor55.pdf
(Log in to CMU WebISO, then click on that link.) It was a reading for the Cognitive Maps section in Human Factors in Architecture.

[http://users.livejournal.com/little_e_/]

personally, i know my mental maps waaay oversimplify angles. This can cause a bit of confusion if I end up off my beaten track.

[gregh1983]

Fun game: Pass out pencil and paper, then ask everyone (including yourself) to draw an outline map of the U.S. In my experience, it's a lot harder than you'd expect; the results are pretty hilarious too!

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

collaboration would make games like these more interesting.