Mental maps are mental depictions based on a person's point-of-view perception of their own world. Often, these perceptions are influenced by likes, dislikes, mass media, and pride. In this mental map, a sixth grader drew her route to and from school based entirely on memory as well as the influential factors given above. The student left out several buildings such as the power plant, which is directly across from the school because this is a hazardous location and she would prefer not to think about it, let alone draw it.
A star plot is a graphical data analysis technique for examining the relative behavior of all variables in a multivariate data set. Each spoke represents a different variable in the multivariate data set. This star plot examines the crime rates of various cities across the United States. The length of each of the spokes represents the amount of crime in any one area.
A correlation matrix is a rectangular assortment of numbers that gives the correlation coefficient between one variable and every other variable included in the study. When the variables are compared to themselves the correlation coefficient is always 1 and is displayed diagonally down the chart. This correlation matrix shows the correlations between principle bond and foreign exchange markets among within several countries.
Similarity matrices are used to express the similarity between two data points. These similarities are mapped across the graph using x and y coordinates. The higher the photo index between the points, the more similar that they are. In this matrix, multiple photos were compared to one another in order to find similarities. The scale on the right was given to show the amount of similarity recorded.
