Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Individual Differences in Graphical Reasoning

  • Conference paper
Book cover Diagrammatic Representation and Inference (Diagrams 2004)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 2980))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

People sometimes appear to represent graphical information by analogy to space. In this paper we consider the extent to which the tendency to represent information by analogy to space calls on spatial resources. We also examine whether people who represent graphical information spatially also represent numerical information using a spatial number line. Forty-eight adult participants carried out a series of graphical reasoning, number judgement and spatial working memory tasks. Evidence was found to suggest that people were forming spatial representations in both the number judgement and graphical reasoning tasks. Performance on the spatial memory task was positively associated with a measure of the tendency to use spatial representations on the graph task. In addition, measures of the use of spatial representations for the graph and number tasks were associated. We interpret our results as providing further evidence that people often represent graphical information by analogy to space. We conclude with a discussion of whether the use of such spatial representations is confined to any one task or is instead a general representational strategy employed by people high in spatial ability.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Evans, J.S.B.T., Newstead, S.N., Byrne, R.M.J.: Human Reasoning: The Psychology Of Deduction. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Ltd., Hove (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Feeney, A., Hola, A.K.W., Liversedge, S.P., Findlay, J.M., Metcalfe, R.: How people extract information from graphs: Evidence from a sentence-graph verification paradigm. In: Anderson, M., Cheng, P., Haarslev, V. (eds.) Diagrams 2000. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 1889, pp. 149–161. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Feeney, A., Webber, L.: Analogical representation and graph comprehension. In: Butz, A., krüger, A., Olivier, P. (eds.) SG 2003. LNCS, vol. 2733, pp. 212–221. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  4. Webber, L., Feeney, A.: How people represent and reason from graphs. In: Alterman, R., Kirsh, D. (eds.) Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Pinker, S.: A Theory of Graph Comprehension. In: Freedle, R. (ed.) Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Testing, pp. 73–126. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Ltd., Hillsdale (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Carpenter, P.A., Shah, P.: A Model of the Perceptual and Conceptual Processes in Graph Comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 4, 75–100 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Trafton, G., Trickett, S.: A new model of graph and visualization usage. In: Moore, J.D., Stenning, K. (eds.) Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, pp. 1048–1053 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Trafton, J.G., Kirschenbaum, S.S., Tsui, T.L., Miyamoto, R.T., Ballas, J.A., Raymond, P.D.: Turning pictures into numbers: Extracting and generating information from complex visualizations. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 53, 827–850 (2000)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  9. Dehaene, S., Bossini, S., Giraux, P.: The mental representation of parity and number magnitude. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 122, 371–396 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Giaquinto, M.: What cognitive systems underlie arithmetical abilities? Mind & Language 16, 56–68 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Dehaene, S., Dehaene-Lambertz, G., Cohen, L.: Abstract representations of numbers in the animal and human brain. Trends in Neurosciences 21, 355–361 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Duyck, W., Vandierendonck, A., De Vooght, G.: Conditional reasoning with a spatial content requires visuo-spatial working memory. Thinking and Reasoning 9, 267–287 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Klauer, K.C., Stegmaier, R., Meiser, T.: Working memory involvement in propositional and spatial reasoning. Thinking and Reasoning 3, 9–47 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Gilhooly, K.J., Logie, R.H., Wynn, V.: Syllogistic reasoning tasks, working memory and skill. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 11, 473–498 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Vandierendonck, A., De Vooght, G.: Working memory constraints on linear reasoning with spatial and temporal contents. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 50A, 803–820 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  16. MacLeod, C., Hunt, E.B., Mathews, N.N.: Individual differences in the verification of sentence-picture relationships. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 17, 493–507 (1978)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Capon, A., Handley, S., Dennis, I.: Working memory and reasoning: An individual differences perspective. Thinking and Reasoning 9, 203–244 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Bacon, A.M., Handley, S.J., Newstead, S.E.: Individual differences in strategies for syllogistic reasoning. Thinking & Reasoning 9, 133–168 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Moyer, R.S., Landauer, T.K.: Time required forjudgements of numerical inequality. Nature 215, 1519–1520 (1967)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Shah, P., Miyake, A.: The separability of working memory resources for spatial thinking and language processing: An individual differences approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 125, 4–27 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. De Soto, S.B., London, M., Handel, S.: Social reasoning and spatial paralogic. Journal ofPersonality and Social Psychology 2, 513–521 (1965)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Potts, G.R., Scholz, K.W.: The internal representation of a three-term series problem. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 14, 439–452 (1975)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Hegarty, M., Sims, V.K.: Individual differences in mental animation during mechanical reasoning. Memory & Cognition 22, 411–430 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Hegarty, M.: Capacity limits in diagrammatic reasoning. In: Anderson, M., Cheng, P., Haarslev, V. (eds.) Diagrams 2000. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 1889, pp. 194–206. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  25. Clark, H.H.: Linguistic processes in deductive reasoning. Psychological Review 76, 387–404 (1969)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Johnson-Laird, P.N.: Deductive reasoning. Annual Review of Psychology 50, 109–135 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Gattis, M.: Spatial schemas and abstract thought. MIT Press, Cambridge (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Potts, G.R.: Information processing strategies used in the encoding of linear orderings. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 11, 727–740 (1972)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Hummel, J.E., Holyoak, K.J.: A process model ofhuman transitive inference. In: Gattis, M. (ed.) Spatial schemas and abstract thought, pp. 279–305. MIT Press, Cambridge (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Dehaene, S., Piazza, M., Pinel, P., Cohen, L.: Three parietal circuits for number processing. Cognitive Neuropsychology 20, 487–506 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Walsh, V.: A theory of magnitude: Common cortical metrics of time, space and quantity. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7, 483–488 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Durham Queen’s Campus, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 6BH, United Kingdom

    Aidan Feeney, John Adams, Lara Webber & Michael Ewbank

Authors
  1. Aidan Feeney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John Adams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lara Webber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael Ewbank
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, CB3 0FD, Cambridge, UK

    Alan F. Blackwell

  2. Clayton School of IT Monash University, 3800, Australia

    Kim Marriott

  3. Faculty of Culture and Information Science, Doshisha University, Japan

    Atsushi Shimojima

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Feeney, A., Adams, J., Webber, L., Ewbank, M. (2004). Individual Differences in Graphical Reasoning. In: Blackwell, A.F., Marriott, K., Shimojima, A. (eds) Diagrammatic Representation and Inference. Diagrams 2004. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 2980. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-25931-2_27

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-25931-2_27

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-21268-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-25931-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation