Score on drawn elements
For the qualitative assessment of sketch maps, we employed relevant scoring methods based on the drawn elements. Visual variables such as location (includes presence and accuracy), size, shape, and colour define the feature characteristics of a map element. Thus, we paid attention to these criteria to qualify the elements existing on sketch maps.
The presence and accuracy. Based on how well the sketch maps were drawn, a score was assigned to them. The criteria ‘how well’ was mainly based on the question, ‘is the object present on the map?’ and ‘is it placed correctly?’. We implemented the scoring system as used by
\citet*{Kulhavy_1996},
Thorndyke and Stasz (1980) and
Ooms et al. (2015) to obtain a score for each map. If the object was present and drawn on the correct location, a score of “one point” was assigned to it. If the object was present, but drawn on a considerably wrong location, only “half a point” was assigned to it. If the object was absent, “zero point” was assigned.
Experts placed map elements slightly more accurately, and according to two-way ANOVA, no significant difference emerged, F(1,55)=0.888, p=0.350. The most pronounced performance difference between two groups occurred when placing the settlements (12.0%) (Figure 5). The reason of this finding would be explained with the amount, the complexity and the distribution of elements falling into this category. The original stimulus contained eight residential areas, which was highest number of elements that a category holds. Inherently, remembering all of them together with their position would be harder, especially for novices, compared to other categories having less than eight elements. The more isolated the feature, the more distinctive and easier to remember it gets. Hence, the isolated settlements stood out more and participants tended have higher probabilities to draw them.