How Do Decision Time and Realism Affect Map-Based Decision Making?

We commonly make decisions based on different kinds of maps, and under varying time constraints. The accuracy of these decisions often can decide even over life and death. In this study, we investigate how varying time constraints and different map types can influence people’s visuo-spatial decision making, specifically for a complex slope detection task involving three spatial dimensions. We find that participants’ response accuracy and response confidence do not decrease linearly, as hypothesized, when given less response time. Assessing collected responses within the signal detection theory framework, we find that different inference error types occur with different map types. Finally, we replicate previous findings suggesting that while people might prefer more realistic looking maps, they do not necessarily perform