A componential model of human interaction with graphical display

A componential model of graphical interaction was developed based on analyses of humans interacting with graphical displays. The model, known as the Mixed Arithmetic--Perceptual (MA-P) model, proposes that five component processes underlie graphical interactions: Searching, Encoding, Arithmetic operations, Spatial comparison, and Responding. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the number of components for a given question--graph combination predicted the time to answer that question using that graph. Experiment 2 provided empirical support for two predictions from the model concerning the spatial relations among the elements of the graph. A metric for determining the ease of processing of a graph is outlined and guidelines for design of graphs are presented.