View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

Transport makes cities: transit maps as major cognitive frames of metropolitan areas.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Transport makes cities: transit maps as major cognitive frames of metropolitan areas.
Authors: Prabhakar, Archana (AUTHOR), Grison, Elise (AUTHOR), Lhuillier, Simon (AUTHOR), Leprévost, Florian (AUTHOR), Gyselinck, Valérie (AUTHOR), Morgagni, Simone (AUTHOR)
Source: Psychological Research. Apr2024, Vol. 88 Issue 3, p1060-1080. 21p.
Subjects: Subways, Cities & towns, Urban planning, Public transit, Social sciences education
Abstract: Spatial representations play a fundamental role in navigation, decision-making, and overall interaction with our environments. Understanding how individuals construct and use them holds significant importance in spatial cognition research, and even bears practical implications for urban planning as it can explain how we interact with the spaces we inhabit. In large urban areas, transit maps stand as prominent visual aids, guiding people through public transportation systems. These maps, while designed for navigational purposes, may influence how individuals perceive and represent their cities. For instance, Vertesi (Social Studies of Science 38:09–35, 2008) showed through a series of interviews including a "sketch mapping" phase, that London Tube Map seems to structure residents' spatial representation of their city. However, thorough quantitative research on this subject have not been carried out yet. Two experimental studies have been conducted to demonstrate how residents' representations of metropolitan areas closely resemble the schematic representations of their public transport networks. First, we show that residents of Greater Paris—public and private transport users alike—plot city landmarks in a layout more closely resembling that of the Parisian transit map than the geographical map. Next, we asked Greater Berlin, London and Paris residents to place landmarks of their cities on different map backgrounds. A similar procedure was followed for landmarks from an unknown city, after a dedicated learning phase. For known cities, the sketch maps produced were closer to transit maps than to the geographical ones, although less so if the test map background presented topographical elements (e.g., rivers, etc.). For learnt cities, participants' sketch maps were almost exclusively dependent on the map provided during the learning phase. These results suggest that familiarity with transit maps has a direct impact on the metric properties of spatial representation in memory, a phenomenon we propose to call the 'schema effect'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Psychological Research is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 1
Header DbId: pbh
DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
An: 176264723
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Transport makes cities: transit maps as major cognitive frames of metropolitan areas.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Prabhakar%2C+Archana%22">Prabhakar, Archana</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Grison%2C+Elise%22">Grison, Elise</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lhuillier%2C+Simon%22">Lhuillier, Simon</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Leprévost%2C+Florian%22">Leprévost, Florian</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gyselinck%2C+Valérie%22">Gyselinck, Valérie</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Morgagni%2C+Simone%22">Morgagni, Simone</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Psychological+Research%22">Psychological Research</searchLink>. Apr2024, Vol. 88 Issue 3, p1060-1080. 21p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Subways%22">Subways</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cities+%26+towns%22">Cities & towns</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Urban+planning%22">Urban planning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+transit%22">Public transit</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+sciences+education%22">Social sciences education</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Spatial representations play a fundamental role in navigation, decision-making, and overall interaction with our environments. Understanding how individuals construct and use them holds significant importance in spatial cognition research, and even bears practical implications for urban planning as it can explain how we interact with the spaces we inhabit. In large urban areas, transit maps stand as prominent visual aids, guiding people through public transportation systems. These maps, while designed for navigational purposes, may influence how individuals perceive and represent their cities. For instance, Vertesi (Social Studies of Science 38:09–35, 2008) showed through a series of interviews including a "sketch mapping" phase, that London Tube Map seems to structure residents' spatial representation of their city. However, thorough quantitative research on this subject have not been carried out yet. Two experimental studies have been conducted to demonstrate how residents' representations of metropolitan areas closely resemble the schematic representations of their public transport networks. First, we show that residents of Greater Paris—public and private transport users alike—plot city landmarks in a layout more closely resembling that of the Parisian transit map than the geographical map. Next, we asked Greater Berlin, London and Paris residents to place landmarks of their cities on different map backgrounds. A similar procedure was followed for landmarks from an unknown city, after a dedicated learning phase. For known cities, the sketch maps produced were closer to transit maps than to the geographical ones, although less so if the test map background presented topographical elements (e.g., rivers, etc.). For learnt cities, participants' sketch maps were almost exclusively dependent on the map provided during the learning phase. These results suggest that familiarity with transit maps has a direct impact on the metric properties of spatial representation in memory, a phenomenon we propose to call the 'schema effect'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Psychological Research is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=176264723
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1007/s00426-023-01925-6
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 21
        StartPage: 1060
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Subways
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cities & towns
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Urban planning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Public transit
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social sciences education
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Transport makes cities: transit maps as major cognitive frames of metropolitan areas.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Prabhakar, Archana
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Grison, Elise
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Lhuillier, Simon
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Leprévost, Florian
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Gyselinck, Valérie
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Morgagni, Simone
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 04
              Text: Apr2024
              Type: published
              Y: 2024
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 03400727
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 88
            – Type: issue
              Value: 3
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Psychological Research
              Type: main
ResultId 1