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T h e M e m o r y K e y
<http://www.memory-key.com>

Your resource for information about memory and memory improvement

July 2006

http://www.memory-key.com/newsletters/issue_85.htm

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THIS MONTH ON MEMORY-KEY.COM:


CONCEPT MAPS & MIND MAPS

TOPIC MAPS

PODCAST

BLOG

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Find out more about my e-book on "Remembering intentions" at:
http://www.memory-key.com/shop/intention_ebook.htm

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Find out about my new YA novel at:
http://www.fmmcpherson.com/

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CONCEPT MAPS & MIND MAPS

Recently I came across a project called BrainBank Learning, which led me to topic maps, which led me back to concept maps (I say back, because of course I’m familiar with concept maps). I found the BrainBank Learning project very exciting, and topic maps are clearly an idea whose time has come. But I’ll get onto topic maps a bit later. Let’s talk about concept maps first.

Broadly speaking, a concept map is a graphic display that attempts to show how concepts are connected to each other. A concept map is a diagram in which labeled nodes represent concepts, and lines connecting them show the relationships between concepts.

There is one type of concept map you’re probably all aware of — mind maps. Mind maps are a specialized form of concept map popularized very successfully by Tony Buzan.

A mind map has four essential characteristics:
· the subject is crystallized in a central image
· main themes radiate from it as branches
· the branches comprise a key image or key word
· the branches form a connected nodal structure

The essential difference between a mind map and the more general concept map is that in a mind map the main themes are connected only to this single central image — not to each other. In a concept map, there are no restrictions on the links between concepts.

Also, the connections between concepts in a concept map are labeled — they have meaning; they’re a particular kind of connection. In a mind map, connections are simply links; they could mean anything.

Mind maps are also supposed to be very pictorial. In Buzan’s own words:
“The full power of the Mind Map is realised by having a central image instead of a central word, and by using images wherever appropriate rather than words.”

Concepts in a concept map, on the other hand, can be (and usually are) entirely verbal. But the degree to which you use words or pictures is entirely up to the user.

In fact, this insistence on images is one of the things I don’t like about mind maps (I hasten to add that there are many things I do like about mind maps). While images are certainly powerful memory aids, they are not for everyone, nor for all circumstances.

Mind maps and concept maps are really aimed at different purposes, and perhaps, different personalities.

The chief usefulness of mind mapping, I believe, is when you’re still trying to come to grips with an idea. Mindmapping is good for brainstorming, for outlining a problem or topic, for helping you sort out the main ideas.

Concept maps, on the other hand, are particularly useful further down the track, when you’re ready to work out the details, to help you work out or demonstrate all the multitudinous ways in which different concepts (and a “concept” can be anything) are connected.

Concept maps are more formal than mind maps, and are better suited to situations where the concept is to be shared with others. Mind maps are considerably more personal, and are often not readily understood by others.

Both mind maps and concept maps are good at clarifying your thoughts, but because of the greater formality of the concept map — the need to be more precise in your connections — concept maps are better at showing you exactly what you don’t understand properly.

Which is why concept maps take a while to get right!

This is a very important point that I should emphasize — hardly anyone ever gets their map (mind or concept) right the first time. In fact, if you did, you probably didn’t need to construct it! It’s the redesigning that is important.

But concept maps can come in different flavors — from the more formal, to a visual display which simply use the basic idea of nodes and links. I thought I’d see if concept maps — in this broader sense — made it easier to navigate my site. So far, I’ve constructed one for the Senior Center, Parents’ Corner, and Everyday memory. The Everyday memory one will eventually be part of a series of linked concept maps. You can see them at:
http://www.memory-key.com/maps/SeniorCenter_map/SeniorCenter_map.htm

http://www.memory-key.com/maps/ParentsCorner_map/ParentsCorner_map.htm

http://www.memory-key.com/maps/everydaymem_map/everydaymem_map.htm

You’ll notice that the everyday memory map has really wandered far from the idea of a concept map. You can see why if you look at an earlier draft which is more of a concept map at:
http://www.memory-key.com/maps/everydaymem_map/oldeverydaymem_map.htm

As you can see, I was having trouble showing clearly the connections I wanted to show.

For those who are interested, I constructed these using SmartDraw, which is graphics software ( http://www.smartdraw.com/exp/stt/home/index.htm ), not specifically concept mapping software.

SmartDraw was better suited for my immediate purposes, but I am experimenting with cmap, which is software specifically for concept mapping, and should be much better suited for displaying more complex clusters of information.

You can see a whole bunch of proper concept maps, constructed using cmap, at http://cmex.ihmc.us/cmex/table.html . And if you’re interested in becoming a cmapper yourself, check out http://cmap.ihmc.us/ .

And here’s a couple more links to help you learn more about concept maps:
http://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/~johnson/misconceptions/concept_map/concept_maps.html
http://cmc.ihmc.us/CMC2004Programa.html (this one has a number of conference papers available in pdf format).

I talk more about concept mapping in my podcast. Don’t forget, if you don’t want to listen to it, you can just read the transcript.

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TOPIC MAPS

I promised to return to the subject of topic maps. There are, of course, some similarities between concept maps and topic maps. Both have been touted as ways of helping you organize your knowledge, and both do that by helping you find and display connections.

However, they are also quite different. The best way to see how is to see a topic map in action by checking out the online demo of the BrainBank Learning project at http://www.opus-hadsel.no/brainbank.htm .

As the concept map is more structured and detailed than a mind map, so a topic map is more structured and detailed than a concept map. In fact, topic maps are all about formal classification.

Topic maps were created out of the need for better indexes for digital information. They are a subject-based classification technique. They involve a whole technical language of their own; they need particular software to create and to view.

And yet, as the BBL project demonstrates, topic maps can play a very useful role in learning, and it’s the same sort of role that concept maps play.

Topic map software is still in the development stages, but I’m sure it’s going to become a vital tool in our constant battle to deal with the information glut. You can find out more about it at:
http://www.cetis.ac.uk/content2/20040930122655 (a relatively brief account of what topic maps are about)
http://www.ontopia.net/topicmaps/materials/tao.html (the “classic” introduction to topic maps, for those who want the detail)
http://www.ontopia.net/topicmaps/materials/tm-vs-thesauri.html (talking about metadata and how topic maps are superior to thesauri and taxonomies)

And if you’re really serious and want to create some topic maps yourself, http://compsci.wssu.edu/iis/nsdl/index.html has downloads for their still-in-development software.

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PODCAST
http://www.memory-key.com/podcasts/podcasts.htm

I talk more about concept maps, in the context of the information glut, and the organization processes we need to deal with it. I also briefly discuss some reports of studies that bear on the broader question of selection. Specifically, of how we don’t always control the process.

This link will take you to a schedule for the program:
http://www.memory-key.com/podcasts/podcast806.htm

There is also a transcript available.

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BLOG
www.memory-key.com/blogger.html

Latest posts:

* Living with blindness
* the need for voice training for teachers
* the World Map of Happiness, new book on happiness
* Gene expression -- Why environment is important for IQ; How identical twins can have different genes
* Where our language center comes from
* autistic males and the amygdala

* happiness
* Foreign Accent Syndrome
* ‘sleep efficiency'

Note that the blog is indexed chronologically at
http://www.memory-key.com/indices/blog_index.htm

And by subject, at http://www.memory-key.com/indices/blog_index2.htm

You can also access my blog with an RSS feed. The URL is
http://memory-key.com/ftp.memory-key.com/atom.xml, or just click the
Bloglines button on the sidebar of my blog.

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The Memory Key website is named after my book "The Memory Key", a
practical user-friendly handbook designed to help people achieve
genuine, long-lasting memory improvement.

http://www.memory-key.com/AboutTheSite/about_book.htm

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