Graph Comprehension: Difficulties, Individual Differences, and Instruction.

Abstract

Graphs are pervasive in our daily lives (e.g., newspapers, textbooks, scientific journals, classrooms), and there is an implicit assumption that, although they are not explicitly taught graphical literacy, people are capable readers of graphs. However, interpreting multivariate data presented graphically is extremely challenging and few, if any, instructional tools or guidelines exist for teaching complex graph interpretation. Furthermore, designing graphs of multivariate data to make them more interpretable and instructing individuals to interpret graphs are both complicated by the fact that numerous factors likely influence the graph interpretation process: the type of display, individuals’ initial graphical literacy skills, their working memory (WM) capacity, and their attitudes or dispositions towards thinking and avoiding belief bias. The goals of the current research were to determine: (1) how well people comprehend main effects and interactions in complex multivariate data presented graphically and the extent to which some graph format characteristics influence the process; (2) whether students can be taught to interpret main effects and interactions in complex graphs and what might comprise such an instructional tutorial; and (3) the role of individual differences in complex graph comprehension. To address these questions, five experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 examined how much people attend to graphs, and whether the existence of a graph to summarize data already described in a text help them remember or understand the data. Experiments 2 and 3 examined students’ interpretation of multivariate graphs in a self-paced, open-ended task and in immediate and long-term memory tasks, and the effect of graph format in these various contexts. Finally, Experiments 4 and 5 examined whether a tutorial could be an effective instructional tool for improving graph skills, and how instruction is differentially impacted by individual differences. In general, individual differences emerged as extremely influential factors in graph comprehension and the training of graph skills, whereas graph format did not play a key role in the current research. Additional research is suggested for further development of the tutorial as an educational resource, and educators should promote enjoyment of cognitive work in the classroom to increase benefit of instruction.