Tools, tests and reading for empirical research on maps and their users. Suggestions for additions are welcome: please contact the co-chairs. Workshop teaching materials are on the Tutorials page.

Running experiments and surveys

• PsychoPy and Pavlovia: open-source experiment builder for lab studies, with online hosting.
• jsPsych: JavaScript library for browser-based experiments.
• Gorilla: online experiment builder (commercial).
• Hypothesis: platform for user experiments, developed by Čeněk Šašinka and colleagues at Masaryk University, Brno. Contact Zdeněk Stachoň for access.
• Survey tools: LimeSurvey (open source), Qualtrics (commercial).
• Participant recruitment: Prolific.
• E-Prime: experiment software for timing-critical lab studies.

Spatial abilities tests and questionnaires

• Perspective Taking/Spatial Orientation Test by Hegarty & Waller (2004); computerised version by Friedman et al. (2019).
• Santa Barbara Sense of Direction Scale (SBSOD) by Hegarty, Richardson, Montello, Lovelace and Subbiah (2002).
• Freiburg Sense of Direction Scale (FSBSOD) by Meilinger and Knauff (2004).
• Spatial cognition tests and surveys from the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center (SILC).

Eye tracking

• Example lab set-ups at the Geographic Information Visualization and Analysis group (GIVA), University of Zurich: eye movement lab and CAVE / 3D stereo display lab.
• Analysis and visualization: EyeMMV (Eye Movements Metrics & Visualizations) by Vassilios Krassanakis; ScanGraph; GazePlotter; Gazealytics.
• Sequence analysis: TraMineR; ClustalG; eyePatterns.
• Reporting standards: Dunn, M. J., et al. (2023). Minimal reporting guideline for research involving eye tracking (2023 edition). Behavior Research Methods. · Holmqvist, K., et al. (2023). Eye tracking: empirical foundations for a minimal reporting guideline. Behavior Research Methods, 55(1), 364–416.

Map design and stimulus tools

• ColorBrewer: colour schemes for maps, by Cynthia Brewer and Mark Harrower.
• Color Oracle: colour-blindness simulator, by Bernhard Jenny.
• Saliency Toolbox by Laurent Itti (USC).
• Visual clutter measures by Ruth Rosenholtz (MIT).
• Text visualization toolbox by Stacy Rebich Hespanha and João Hespanha (UCSB).
• RANDOM.ORG: true random numbers for randomising conditions.

Reading

• Field, A. (2026). Discovering Statistics Using R and RStudio (2nd ed.). SAGE.
• Field, A. (2024). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics (6th ed.). SAGE.
• Ishikawa, T. (2020). Human Spatial Cognition and Experience: Mind in the World, World in the Mind. Routledge.
• Montello, D. R., and Sutton, P. C. (2013). An Introduction to Scientific Research Methods in Geography and Environmental Studies (2nd ed.). SAGE.
• Purchase, H. C. (2012). Experimental Human-Computer Interaction: A Practical Guide with Visual Examples. Cambridge University Press.
• Martin, D. W. (2008). Doing Psychology Experiments (7th ed.). Thomson Wadsworth.