Tour of a Map Reader's Brain, Part 5: Patterns, Symmetries, Sequences, and Hierarchies

The focus in this article is on the usefulness of spatial sequencing as a tactic for interpreting a map and organizing our memory of it. This skill is useful whenever some condition varies in a systematic way with distance. When students are asked whether they see a pattern on a map of a topic like wildfires or terrorist activity, some students can answer "yes" while using a different brain network and perceiving something very different from what the teacher thinks is "the" pattern. Unless a geographic pattern is quite simple and the map is well designed, human eyes may not perceive the pattern all at once. Map readers have to assemble a mental image of the pattern while their eyes jump around the page. This interaction of time and space can introduce distortions in perception. Part of becoming a good map reader, therefore, is learning how to guide your eyes to pick out patterns on maps.