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Seeing Like a Geologist: How

Expertise and Context Impact

Frame-of-Reference Judgments

Bailey Zo Kreager and Nicole D. LaDue, Northern Illinois University, Dept. of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Davis Hall 312,
Normal Road, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA

SEEING LIKE A GEOLOGIST, example, introductory geology students field; students and faculty may utilize the
MEASURING LIKE A PSYCHOLOGIST learn that the top and bottom contact of an same terminology to discuss different fea-
Frame of reference is vital to the interpre- individual sedimentary layer has meaning, tures, causing a misunderstanding.
tation of geologic data (e.g., plate motion), even when the layer is folded or tilted. In Here, we report the results of a pilot study
strike and dip, navigation, and visualization other words, the term “above” has special that examines the proposed impact of geo-
with diagrams and outcrops (Kastens and geologic meaning in context and does not logic training on frame of reference by ask-
Ishikawa, 2006; Groom et al., 2015). For always refer to the top of a diagram. For ing the following questions: (1) does geologic
example, when viewing a map of plate example, when discussing “above,” advanced expertise impact the frame of reference geol-
motion relative to the United States, you will stratigraphic features, including onlapping ogists use when deciding where “above” is in
observe a different pattern than a map of or offlapping layers and topset, foreset, and a scene?; and (2) does the context of the scene
absolute plate motion (Groom et al., 2015). bottom beds may cause miscommunication. impact frame-of-reference thinking?
Geologists use frame-of-reference thinking The draped manner of these layers and
when interpreting geologic scenes, such as unique patterns that emerge may change the METHODS
examining structural changes (i.e., fault understanding of “above” for novices or A survey was administered at the 2017
movement) within an outcrop. Presently, experts. We also propose that expert geolo- Geological Society of America Annual
there is a lack of empirical data to under- gists will preference an object frame of refer- Meeting at the Michigan State University
stand the impact of frame of reference in the ence when interpreting geologic diagrams. Geocognition Research Laboratory booth.
geosciences. This study offers preliminary Novices’ recent training with introductory The survey included four frame-of-reference
data on the impact of geologic expertise on concepts, such as Steno’s laws, may cause questions and a demographic survey. The
frame-of-reference thinking with and with- equal rates of object responses for geologic demographic survey collected data on geo-
out geologic context. and non-geologic settings. logic experience. The frame-of-reference
Psychologists describe two distinct frames These proposed ideas imply that frame-of questions included two geologic scenes
of reference for diagram interpretation: envi- -reference judgments may be a predictor of and two non-geologic scenes. The non-geo-
ronmental (i.e., describing objects’ locations geologic expertise and could be used to evalu- logic scenes were modeled after Carlson-
based on the axis of the environment or ate where people fall on the expert-novice Radvansky and Irwin (1993), with a donkey
scene) and object (i.e., describing an object’s spectrum. Understanding the relation between on a hill with two flies, one placed in each
location based on the intrinsic features of expert and novice frame-of-reference judg- reference frame (Fig. 1A). Participants were
another object) (Carlson-Radvansky and ments has implications for the classroom and prompted: “Circle the fly above the donkey.”
Irwin, 1993). Psychological literature dem-
onstrates that most people will use an envi-
ronmental frame of reference (Friederici and A B
Levelt, 1990; Carlson-Radvansky and Irwin,
1993). Friederici and Levelt (1990) support
the idea that situational conditions can
impact the frame of reference that a person
uses, suggesting that frame-of-reference
thinking is context dependent.
We propose that geologic training influ-
ences a geologist’s frame-of-reference judg-
ments and may be a predictor of geologic
expertise. Geologic training focuses on the
object level of the scene, putting equal Figure 1. Diagrams with the non-geologic (A) and geologic (B) scenes have objects
importance on the parts as the whole. For placed in the object and environmental reference frame.

GSA Today, v. 30, https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG423GW.1. Copyright 2020, The Geological Society of America. CC-BY-NC.

Emails: bkrager1@niu.edu; nladue@niu.edu

44 GSA Today | June 2020