16 Understanding Sketches and Diagrams

Sketches and diagrams are heavily used by people to communicate with each other and to think through ideas. The act of sketching engages our visual and motor capabilities, helping us think things through, especially when the matter under consideration includes spatial aspects. Providing directions via a map, explaining how a system works, and creating a new design are all facilitated by a pen (analog or digital) and media to draw upon. But drawings alone are not enough: diagrams in textbooks include captions, maps involve cultural conventions and legends, and sketches are typically accompanied by dialogue where participants declare and clarify the intended meaning of what is drawn. Thus, understanding what is needed to understand diagrams, as well as the processes needed to produce them, requires a combination of visual, spatial, linguistic, and conceptual representations and processes. This makes it a fascinating area for cognitive science research.