Mind map

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A mind map about the cubital fossa or elbow pit, including an illustration of the central concept Cubital Fossa2.png
A mind map about the cubital fossa or elbow pit, including an illustration of the central concept

A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information into a hierarchy, showing relationships among pieces of the whole. [1] It is often based on a single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank page, to which associated representations of ideas such as images, words and parts of words are added. Major ideas are connected directly to the central concept, and other ideas branch out from those major ideas.

Contents

Mind maps can also be drawn by hand, either as "notes" during a lecture, meeting or planning session, for example, or as higher quality pictures when more time is available. Mind maps are considered to be a type of spider diagram. [2]

Origin

Although the term "mind map" was first popularized by British popular psychology author and television personality Tony Buzan, [3] [4] the use of diagrams that visually "map" information using branching and radial maps traces back centuries. [5] These pictorial methods record knowledge and model systems, and have a long history in learning, brainstorming, memory, visual thinking, and problem solving by educators, engineers, psychologists, and others. Some of the earliest examples of such graphical records were developed by Porphyry of Tyros, a noted thinker of the 3rd century, as he graphically visualized the concept categories of Aristotle. [5] Philosopher Ramon Llull (1235–1315) also used such techniques. [5]

Buzan's specific approach, and the introduction of the term "mind map", started with a 1974 BBC TV series he hosted, called Use Your Head. [6] In this show, and companion book series, Buzan promoted his conception of radial tree, diagramming key words in a colorful, radiant, tree-like structure. [7]

Differences from other visualizations

Research

Effectiveness

Cunningham (2005) conducted a user study in which 80% of the students thought "mindmapping helped them understand concepts and ideas in science". [10] Other studies also report some subjective positive effects of the use of mind maps. [11] [12] Positive opinions on their effectiveness, however, were much more prominent among students of art and design than in students of computer and information technology, with 62.5% vs 34% (respectively) agreeing that they were able to understand concepts better with mind mapping software. [11] Farrand, Hussain, and Hennessy (2002) found that spider diagrams (similar to concept maps) had limited, but significant, impact on memory recall in undergraduate students (a 10% increase over baseline for a 600-word text only) as compared to preferred study methods (a 6% increase over baseline). [13] This improvement was only robust after a week for those in the diagram group and there was a significant decrease in motivation compared to the subjects' preferred methods of note taking. A meta study about concept mapping concluded that concept mapping is more effective than "reading text passages, attending lectures, and participating in class discussions". [14] The same study also concluded that concept mapping is slightly more effective "than other constructive activities such as writing summaries and outlines". However, results were inconsistent, with the authors noting "significant heterogeneity was found in most subsets". In addition, they concluded that low-ability students may benefit more from mind mapping than high-ability students.

Features

Joeran Beel and Stefan Langer conducted a comprehensive analysis of the content of mind maps. [15] They analysed 19,379 mind maps from 11,179 users of the mind mapping applications SciPlore MindMapping (now Docear) and MindMeister. Results include that average users create only a few mind maps (mean=2.7), average mind maps are rather small (31 nodes) with each node containing about three words (median). However, there were exceptions. One user created more than 200 mind maps, the largest mind map consisted of more than 50,000 nodes and the largest node contained ~7,500 words. The study also showed that between different mind mapping applications (Docear vs MindMeister) significant differences exist related to how users create mind maps.

Automatic creation

There have been some attempts to create mind maps automatically. Brucks & Schommer created mind maps automatically from full-text streams. [16] Rothenberger et al. extracted the main story of a text and presented it as mind map. [17] There is also a patent application about automatically creating sub-topics in mind maps. [18]

Tools

Mind-mapping software can be used to organize large amounts of information, combining spatial organization, dynamic hierarchical structuring and node folding. Software packages can extend the concept of mind-mapping by allowing individuals to map more than thoughts and ideas with information on their computers and the Internet, like spreadsheets, documents, Internet sites, images and videos. [19] It has been suggested that mind-mapping can improve learning/study efficiency up to 15% over conventional note-taking. [13]

The following dozen examples of mind maps show the range of styles that a mind map may take, from hand-drawn to computer-generated and from mostly text to highly illustrated. Despite their stylistic differences, all of the examples share a tree structure that hierarchically connects sub-topics to a main topic.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Buzan</span> English author and educational consultant (1942–2019)

Anthony Peter "Tony" Buzan was an English author and educational consultant.

A graphic organizer, also known as a knowledge map, concept map, story map, cognitive organizer, advance organizer, or concept diagram, is a pedagogical tool that uses visual symbols to express knowledge and concepts through relationships between them. The main purpose of a graphic organizer is to provide a visual aid to facilitate learning and instruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outliner</span> Type of software to organize texts

An outliner is a specialized type of text editor used to create and edit outlines, which are text files which have a tree structure or a tree view, for organization. Textual information is contained in discrete sections called "nodes", which are arranged according to their topic–subtopic (parent–child) relationships, like the members of a family tree. When loaded into an outliner, an outline may be collapsed or expanded to display as few or as many levels as desired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concept map</span> Diagram showing relationships among concepts

A concept map or conceptual diagram is a diagram that depicts suggested relationships between concepts. Concept maps may be used by instructional designers, engineers, technical writers, and others to organize and structure knowledge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infographic</span> Graphic visual representation of information

Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly. They can improve cognition by using graphics to enhance the human visual system's ability to see patterns and trends. Similar pursuits are information visualization, data visualization, statistical graphics, information design, or information architecture. Infographics have evolved in recent years to be for mass communication, and thus are designed with fewer assumptions about the readers' knowledge base than other types of visualizations. Isotypes are an early example of infographics conveying information quickly and easily to the masses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Group concept mapping</span> Method of organizing groups of related concepts

Group concept mapping is a structured methodology for organizing the ideas of a group on any topic of interest and representing those ideas visually in a series of interrelated maps. It is a type of integrative mixed method, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection and analysis. Group concept mapping allows for a collaborative group process with groups of any size, including a broad and diverse array of participants. Since its development in the late 1980s by William M.K. Trochim at Cornell University, it has been applied to various fields and contexts, including community and public health, social work, health care, human services, and biomedical research and evaluation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Note-taking</span> Practice of recording information

Note-taking is the practice of recording information from different sources and platforms. By taking notes, the writer records the essence of the information, freeing their mind from having to recall everything. Notes are commonly drawn from a transient source, such as an oral discussion at a meeting, or a lecture, in which case the notes may be the only record of the event. Since the advent of writing and literacy, notes traditionally were almost always handwritten, but the introduction of notetaking software has made digital notetaking possible and widespread. Note-taking is a foundational skill in personal knowledge management.

The term conceptual model refers to any model that is formed after a conceptualization or generalization process. Conceptual models are often abstractions of things in the real world, whether physical or social. Semantic studies are relevant to various stages of concept formation. Semantics is fundamentally a study of concepts, the meaning that thinking beings give to various elements of their experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argument map</span> Visual representation of the structure of an argument

An argument map or argument diagram is a visual representation of the structure of an argument. An argument map typically includes all the key components of the argument, traditionally called the conclusion and the premises, also called contention and reasons. Argument maps can also show co-premises, objections, counterarguments, rebuttals, and lemmas. There are different styles of argument map but they are often functionally equivalent and represent an argument's individual claims and the relationships between them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XMind</span> Mind-mapping software

Xmind is a mind mapping and brainstorming software, It is developed by Xmind Ltd., a company registered in Hong Kong, and first released in 2007. The application can be used to visualize ideas, clarify thoughts, manage complex information, and promote team collaboration. People use Xmind to improve their productivity and creativity while working or learning. As of April 2013, Xmind was selected as the most popular mind mapping software on Lifehacker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3D Topicscape</span> Information management software

3D Topicscape is a Personal information manager that provides a template loosely based on mind-mapping or concept mapping. It presents the mind map as a 3D scene where each node is a cone. It can also display in a 2D format. Nodes are arranged in a way that indicates how they are related in much the same way as a mind map. In addition to its use for information management it is claimed to be suitable as a task manager, and for use in project management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mindomo</span>

Mindomo is a versatile freemium collaborative mind mapping, concept mapping and outlining tool developed by Expert Software Applications. It can be used to develop ideas and interactively brainstorm, with features including sharing, collaboration, task management, presentation and interactive web publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compendium (software)</span> Social science computer program

Compendium is a computer program and social science tool that facilitates the mapping and management of ideas and arguments. The software provides a visual environment that allows people to structure and record collaboration as they discuss and work through wicked problems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Araucaria (software)</span>

Araucaria is an argument mapping software tool developed in 2001 by Chris Reed and Glenn Rowe, in the Argumentation Research Group at the School of Computing in the University of Dundee, Scotland. It is designed to visually represent arguments through diagrams that can be used for analysis and stored in Argument Markup Language (AML), based on XML. As free software, it is available under the GNU General Public License and may be downloaded for free on the internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freeplane</span> Free mind mapping application

Freeplane is a free, open source software application for creating mind maps, and electronic outlines. Written in Java, it is supported on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, and is licensed under the GNU GPL version "2 or later".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radial tree</span> Mathematical tree on concentric circles

A radial tree, or radial map, is a method of displaying a tree structure in a way that expands outwards, radially. It is one of many ways to visually display a tree, with examples dating back to the early 20th century. In use, it is a type of information graphic.

SpicyNodes was a system for displaying hierarchical data, in which a focus node displays detailed information, and the surrounding nodes represent related information, with a layout based on radial maps. It has web (Flash) and mobile (iOS) implementations. It has ended operation as of 1 January 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CmapTools</span> Software for concept mapping

CmapTools is concept mapping software developed by the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). It allows users to easily create graphical nodes representing concepts, and to connect nodes using lines and linking words to form a network of interrelated propositions that represent knowledge of a topic. The software has been used in classrooms and research labs, and in corporate training.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP is proprietary mind mapping and brainstorming software developed by CS Odessa for Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS operating systems.

References

  1. ↑ Hopper, Carolyn H. (2007). "Mapping" . Practicing College Learning Strategies (4th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. pp.  139–143. ISBN   978-0618643783. OCLC   70880063.
  2. ↑ "Mind Map noun - definition in the British English Dictionary & Thesaurus - Cambridge Dictionaries Online". Dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  3. ↑ "Tony Buzan obituary". The Times : 57. 17 April 2019. With receding hair, a toothy grin and a ready sense of humour, he popularised the idea of mental literacy with mind mapping, a thinking technique that he said was inspired by methods used by Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein, as well as by Joseph D Novak's ideas of 'concept mapping'. Others thought him little more than a good salesman, exuding confidence and backing up his 'pseudoscience' with an impressive and seductive range of facts and figures.
  4. ↑ Serig, Dan (October 2011). "Research review: Beyond brainstorming: the mind map as art". Teaching Artist Journal. 9 (4): 249–257. doi:10.1080/15411796.2011.604627. S2CID   219642688. Tony Buzan claims to be the inventor of mind maps. While he may have coined the term, the idea that he invented them is quite preposterous if you have ever seen reproductions of Leonardo da Vinci's sketchbooks.
  5. 1 2 3 Lima, Manuel (2014). The Book of Trees: Visualizing Branches of Knowledge . New York: Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN   9781616892180. OCLC   854611430.
  6. ↑ Buzan, Tony (1974). Use Your Head . London: BBC Books. ISBN   0563107901. OCLC   16230234.
  7. ↑ "Buzan claims mind mapping his invention in interview". KnowledgeBoard. Archived from the original on 2010-02-13.
  8. ↑ Lanzing, Jan (January 1998). "Concept mapping: tools for echoing the minds eye". Journal of Visual Literacy. 18 (1): 1–14 (4). doi:10.1080/23796529.1998.11674524. The difference between concept maps and mind maps is that a mind map has only one main concept, while a concept map may have several. This means that a mind map can be represented in a hierarchical tree structure.
  9. ↑ Romance, Nancy R.; Vitale, Michael R. (Spring 1999). "Concept mapping as a tool for learning: broadening the framework for student-centered instruction". College Teaching . 47 (2): 74–79 (78). doi:10.1080/87567559909595789. JSTOR   27558942. Shavelson et al. (1994) identified a number of variations of the general technique presented here for developing concept maps. These include whether (1) the map is hierarchical or free-form in nature, (2) the concepts are provided with or determined by the learner, (3) the students are provided with or develop their own structure for the map, (4) there is a limit on the number of lines connecting concepts, and (5) the connecting links must result in the formation of a complete sentence between two nodes.
  10. ↑ Cunningham, Glennis Edge (2005). Mindmapping: Its Effects on Student Achievement in High School Biology (Ph.D.). The University of Texas at Austin. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.399.5818 . hdl:2152/2410.
  11. 1 2 Holland, Brian; Holland, Lynda; Davies, Jenny (2004). An investigation into the concept of mind mapping and the use of mind mapping software to support and improve student academic performance. University of Wolverhampton. hdl:2436/3707. ISBN   9780954211646.
  12. ↑ D'Antoni, A.V.; Zipp, G.P. (2006). "Applications of the Mind Map Learning Technique in Chiropractic Education: A Pilot Study and Literature". Journal of Chiropractic Humanities. 13: 2–11. doi:10.1016/S1556-3499(13)60153-9.
  13. 1 2 Farrand, P.; Hussain, F.; Hennessy, E. (2002). "The efficacy of the mind map study technique". Medical Education. 36 (5): 426–431. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2923.2002.01205.x. PMID   12028392. S2CID   29278241.
  14. ↑ Nesbit, J.C.; Adesope, O.O. (2006). "Learning with concept and knowledge maps: A meta-analysis". Review of Educational Research. 76 (3). Sage Publications: 413–448. doi:10.3102/00346543076003413. S2CID   122082944.
  15. ↑ Beel, Joeran; Langer, Stefan (2011). "An Exploratory Analysis of Mind Maps" (PDF). Proceedings of the 11th ACM Symposium on Document Engineering (DocEng'11). ACM. pp. 81–84. ISBN   978-1-4503-0863-2.
  16. ↑ Brucks, Claudine; Schommer, Christoph (2008). "Assembling Actor-based Mind-Maps from Text Stream". arXiv: 0810.4616 [cs.CL].
  17. ↑ Rothenberger, T; Oez, S; Tahirovic, E; Schommer, Christoph (2008). "Figuring out Actors in Text Streams: Using Collocations to establish Incremental Mind-maps". arXiv: 0803.2856 [cs.CL].
  18. ↑ USapplication 2009119584,Herbst, Steve,"Software tool for creating outlines and mind maps that generates subtopics automatically",published 2009-05-07, since abandoned.
  19. ↑ Santos, Devin (15 February 2013). "Top 10 Totally Free Mind Mapping Software Tools". IMDevin. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
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