Stimulus complexity and information integration in the spontaneous interpretations of line graphs

• Published in: Applied cognitive psychology 1993-08, Vol.7 (4), p.341-357
• Main Authors: Carswell, C. Melody, Emery, Cathy, Lonon, Andrea M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Graphs; Interpretation
• ISSN: 0888-4080; 1099-0720
• DOI: 10.1002/acp.2350070407

Viewers of a graph will readily interpret its contents, even when given no explicit instructions regarding what information to extract. However, little is known about the strategies that subjects adopt when making such spontaneous interpretations. In the present experiments, subjects studied single‐function line graphs for self‐determined periods. They provided written interpretations immediately following examination of each graph. The structural complexity of stimulus graphs was varied by eliminating symmetry, and by adding data points, departures from linearity, and trend reversals. Across two experiments, number of trend reversals was the main determinant of comprehension difficulty as measured by study times. An increased number of reversals also resulted in more local, detail‐oriented content in interpretations. By contrast, the presence of such emergent features as symmetry and linearity led to increases in the amount of integrative, global content in interpretations, usually at the expense of local detail. Surprisingly, increases in the number of data points led to similar increases in the grain of subjects' interpretations. The last finding may reflect a shift from point‐by‐point to integrative study strategies necessitated by capacity limitations in working memory.