Supporting Cognition in the Face of Political Data and Discourse

A Mental Models Perspective on Designing Information Visualization Systems

Information Visualization (InfoVis)

“the use of computer-supported, interactive, visual representations of abstract data to amplify cognition” [1, p. 8] “help us speed our understanding and action in a world of increasing information volumes” [2, p. 542]

[1] S. Card, J. Mackinlay, and B. Shneiderman, Readings in information visualization: Using vision to think. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, 1999. [2] S. Card, “Information visualization”, in The human-computer interaction handbook: Fundamentals, evolving technologies, and emerging applications, A. Sears and J.A. Jacko, Eds. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2008, pp. 509-544.

http://www.mapd.com/demos/political-donations/

Example: MapD

Mental Models (MM)

[7] N. Jones, H. Ross, T. Lynam, P. Perez, and A. Leitch, A, “Mental models: An interdisciplinary synthesis of theory and methods,” Ecology & Soc., vol. 16, no. 1, 2011, p. 46. [8] B. Tversky, “Cognitive maps, cognitive collages, and spatial mental models,” in Spatial Information Theory. A Theoretical Basis for GIS, A. U. Frank and I. Campari, Eds. Berlin: Springer, 1993, pp. 14-24. [16] J.J. van Merriënboer, and P. A. Kirschner, P. A., Ten steps to complex learning: A systematic approach to four-component instructional design, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2012.

dynamic cognitive representations enable to “describe, explain and predict a system's

purpose, form, function, and state” [7, p. 46]

Cognitive Collage Mental Model “…a quagmire of charming, but irrelevant pieces of information…” [16, p. 161]

“…capture the categorical spatial relations among elements coherently, allowing perspective-taking, reorientation, and spatial inferences…” [8, p. 15].

An example

P. N. Johnson-Laird, “Mental models in cognitive science,” Cognitive Sci., vol. 4, no. 1, 1980, pp. 71-115.

Construct mental model step by step

build two separate mental models and then combine them

- or - store the information in

propositional form

more cognitive effort

Comprehension of discourse or narratives

Situation Model 1

Situation Model 2

Situation Model 3

time

place

protagonist

cause

goal

Global Model

Learnings from mental model research

• Mental models are constructed iteratively • Complex information is linked by specific cues to

construct integrated mental models eases understanding

! ! !

! !

large object collections

with multiple dimensions of metadata

dates of origin

places of origin

types of artifacts

creators

influences styles

etc.

Situation Model 1

Situation Model 2

Situation Model 3

Global Model

?

Source: http://www.sexandquantumphysics.com/2011/07/paradigms-shift/

cognitive insights (basic patterns)

cognitive collages

mental models

+ connections

+ coherence

microcognitive (local) sensemaking

macrocognitive (global) sensemaking

Coherence technique 1 Incremental elaboration of existing MMs trough narrative user guidance

http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-whats-warming-the-world/

Coherence technique 2 Incremental elaboration of existing MMs trough traceable changes

http://2010games.nytimes.com/medals/map.html

Coherence technique 3: Facilitate initial learning via advance organizers

Coherence technique 4: Parallel integration of MM with multiple juxtaposed views + coordinated interaction methods

pubviz: http://www.smuc.at/pubviz/

Summary

• Novel view on the visualisation of „complex things“ inspired by cognitive science

• The coherence of mental models is an emerging topic for research on the comprehension process in InfoVis

• Open questions which coherence factors have an impact and how to measure them

Thank you!

guenther.schreder florian.windhager

eva.mayr michael.smuc

@donau-uni.ac.at

backup-slides

nice links to coherence techniques

narrative viz

http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-whats-warming-the-world/

http://www.angelamorelli.com/water/

https://www.shipmap.org/

seamless transitions

http://ig.ft.com/features/baseline/surface-tension-in-tennis/

http://2010games.nytimes.com/medals/map.html

coordinated views

http://www.mapd.com/demos/political-donations/

http://www.smuc.at/pubviz/

and coord. interaction

http://mbostock.github.io/d3/talk/20111116/iris-splom.html