Field Cognitive Styles on Visual Cognition in the Event Structure Design of Bivariate Interactive Dorling Cartogram—The Similarities and Differences of Field-Independent and Field-Dependent Users

Abstract

As a simple, discontinuous, surface deformation statistical map, Dorling cartograms are effective means with which to characterize the geographic distribution of event data attributes. According to existing research, behavioral differences exist in the visual cognition of individuals with different cognitive field styles in the spatial task of switching layers in a two-dimensional electronic map. However, there are few studies that compare the visual cognitive ability of individuals with different cognitive field styles in the cross-layer structure design of Dorling cartogram event information. This paper uses the visual behavior measurement method to analyze the similarities and differences in the visual cognitive ability of two types of individuals, namely, field-independent and field-dependent individuals, in the cross-layer event structure design of Dorling cartograms. We recruited 40 subjects to perform visualization tasks on Dorling cartograms designed with two event structures, and we recorded the visual cognition data for the two types of subjects in both tasks. The results show that the subjects with the field-independent style perform better in the cognition of the Dorling cartogram event structure than the subjects with the field-dependent style, and the “S-T” event structure design is generally more user-friendly than the “T-S” event structure design. Our findings help to provide some references for the event structure design of human-centered Dorling cartograms.