Thinking With Diagrams

by Blackwell, Alan F.

• ISBN13: 9780792369448
• ISBN10: 0792369440
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

This book provides an introductory overview of the rapid growth in interdisciplinary research into Thinking with Diagrams. Diagrammatic representations are becoming more common in everyday human experience, yet they offer unique challenges to cognitive science research. Neither linguistic nor perceptual theories are sufficient to completely explain their advantages and applications. These research challenges may be part of the reason why so many diagrams are badly designed or badly used. This is ironic when the user interfaces of computer software and the worldwide web are becoming so completely dominated by graphical and diagrammatic representations. This book includes chapters commissioned from leading researchers in the major disciplines involved in diagrams research. They review the philosophical status of diagrams, the cognitive processes involved in their application, and a range of specialist fields in which diagrams are central, including education, architectural design and visual programming languages. The result is immediately relevant to researchers in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, as well as in applied technology areas such as human-computer interaction and information design.

Table of Contents

About the Authors	v
Introduction: Thinking with Diagrams	1	(4)
The Graphic-Linguistic Distinction	5	(24)
Atsushi Shimojima
Aligning Logical and Psychological Perspectives on Diagrammatic Reasoning	29	(34)
Keith Stenning
Oliver Lemon
Diagrammatic Reasoning: An Artificial Intelligence Perspective	63	(16)
Patrick Olivier
Cognitive Science Approaches to Understanding Diagramatic Representations	79	(16)
Peter C.-H. Cheng
Ric K. Lowe
Mike Scaife
Cognitive Factors in Programming with Diagrams	95	(20)
Alan F. Blackwell
Kirsten N. Whitley
Judith Good
Marian Petre
Learning to think and Communicate with diagrams: 14 Questions to Consider	115	(20)
Paul Bran
Richard Cox
Judith Good
Thinking with Diagrams in Architectural Design	135
Ellen YI-Luen Do
Mark D. Gross