Searching Documents: Cognitive Processes and Deficits in Understanding Graphs, Tables, and Illustrations

Abstract

A cognitive processing framework for how people read and understand graphs, tables, and illustrations was explored in two studies. In Study I, 16 students provided verbal protocol data in think-aloud tasks with four graphs and four illustrations taken from textbooks and newspapers. The students answered questions that required them to either locate specific details in the documents (local search) or see trends and understand the gist of the documents (global search). In searching for specific information, students reported thinking about the organization and category structure of the documents; whereas in searching for trends, the students reported making generalizations and developing abstractions. In Study II, a larger set of documents including eight tables, eight graphs, and eight illustrations, as well as global and specific questions, were used. Performance on all tasks revealed one factor which required students to locate specific information, and a second factor which required students to perceive trends and patterns. We inferred that performance on the second factor benefitted from abstraction processes that were relatively independent of the components of search that were needed for performance on the first factor, which emphasized locating specific information. The level of competence in searching for trends was significantly lower than that in searching for specific information, suggesting that the abstraction process had not been learned by a substantial number of students. The cognitive processing framework was discussed in relation to other models of document literacy.