Treffer: Decision making with visualizations: a cognitive framework across disciplines.

Visualizations-visual representations of information, depicted in graphics-are studied by researchers in numerous ways, ranging from the study of the basic principles of creating visualizations, to the cognitive processes underlying their use, as well as how visualizations communicate complex information (such as in medical risk or spatial patterns). However, findings from different domains are rarely shared across domains though there may be domain-general principles underlying visualizations and their use. The limited cross-domain communication may be due to a lack of a unifying cognitive framework. This review aims to address this gap by proposing an integrative model that is grounded in models of visualization comprehension and a dual-process account of decision making. We review empirical studies of decision making with static two-dimensional visualizations motivated by a wide range of research goals and find significant direct and indirect support for a dual-process account of decision making with visualizations. Consistent with a dual-process model, the first type of visualization decision mechanism produces fast, easy, and computationally light decisions with visualizations. The second facilitates slower, more contemplative, and effortful decisions with visualizations. We illustrate the utility of a dual-process account of decision making with visualizations using four cross-domain findings that may constitute universal visualization principles. Further, we offer guidance for future research, including novel areas of exploration and practical recommendations for visualization designers based on cognitive theory and empirical findings.

LMP is a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah in the Cognitive Neural Science department. LMP is a member of the Visual Perception and Spatial Cognition Research Group directed by Sarah Creem-Regehr, Ph.D., Jeanine Stefanucci, Ph.D., and William Thompson, Ph.D. Her work focuses on graphical cognition, decision making with visualizations, and visual perception. She works on large interdisciplinary projects with visualization scientists and anthropologists. SHC is a Professor in the Psychology Department of the University of Utah. She received her MA and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Virginia. Her research serves joint goals of developing theories of perception-action processing mechanisms and applying these theories to relevant real-world problems in order to facilitate observers’ understanding of their spatial environments. In particular, her interests are in space perception, spatial cognition, embodied cognition, and virtual environments. She co-authored the book Visual Perception from a Computer Graphics Perspective; previously, she was Associate Editor of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review and Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. MH is a Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research is concerned with spatial cognition, broadly defined, and includes research on small-scale spatial abilities (e.g. mental rotation and perspective taking), large-scale spatial abilities involved in navigation, comprehension of graphics, and the role of spatial cognition in STEM learning. She served as chair of the governing board of the Cognitive Science Society and is associate editor of Topics in Cognitive Science and past Associate Editor of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. JS is an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Utah. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on better understanding if a person’s bodily states, whether emotional, physiological, or physical, affects their spatial perception and cognition. She conducts this research in natural settings (outdoor or indoor) and in virtual environments. This work is inherently interdisciplinary given it spans research on emotion, health, spatial perception and cognition, and virtual environments. She is on the editorial boards for the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General and Virtual Environments: Frontiers in Robotics and AI. She also co-authored the book Visual Perception from a Computer Graphics Perspective.The research reported in this paper was conducted in adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki and received IRB approval from the University of Utah, #IRB_00057678. No human subject data were collected for this work; therefore, no consent to participate was acquired.Consent to publish was not required for this review.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.