An experimental investigation of layer tints for relief maps in school atlases

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Abstract
English teenage school children carried out some representative map-reading tasks to evaluate layer tints for use in school atlases. Two spectral colour schemes (loosely following the colours of the spectrum) were compared with two tonal schemes (varying tone, constant hue). Judgements of absolute height were carried out more accurately on the spectral maps, but judgements of relative height were better with the tonal maps. Other questions involving the map base and visualization of the relief showed no reliable differences between the maps. Spectral schemes have the disadvantage that colours are difficult to order correctly. The problem with tonal schemes is that colours are often hard to discriminate. Innovative design may overcome both these problems but given the alternatives considered here, the tonal maps seem preferable as relative height is more important than absolute height for children using atlases

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