The experts' ability to utilize prior knowledge for interpreting map symbols

In Experiment 1a, six examples for each of four map symbols, which were path, boulder, stream, and runnability, were chosen for comparison. Two of these examples were shown and the subjects (18 expert orienteers and 12 novices) were requested to choose the one which seemed to be wider or larger in size. The experts' choices were significantly correct for path and stream while novices chose correctly for path. Different usage of prior knowledge between experts and novices was observed. This result was confirmed in Experiment 1b, using 18 experts, 17 novices and 20 non-orienteers. In Experiment 2, 31 expert orienteers and 23 non-orienteers were requested to estimate the actual sizes of the objects depicted on the maps