4 Decomposition and Visualization
4.9 MIND MAPS AND CONCEPT MAPS
M
ind Maps and Concept Maps are visual representations of how an individual or a group thinks about a topic of interest. Such a diagram has two basic elements: the ideas that are judged relevant to whatever topic one is thinking about, and the lines that show and briefly describe the connections between these ideas. The two dominant approaches to creating such diagrams are Mind Mapping and Concept Mapping (see Figures 4.9a and 4.9b). Other approaches include cognitive, causal, andinfluence mapping as well as idea mapping. There are many commercial and freely available software products that support this mapping function and that are known by many different names.3 Diverse groups within the intelligence community are using various methods for creating meaningful diagrams.
When to Use It
Whenever you think about a problem, develop a plan, or consider making even a very simple decision, you are putting a series of thoughts together. That series of thoughts can be represented
visually with words or images connected by lines that represent the nature of the relationship between them. Any thinking for any purpose, whether about a personal decision or analysis of an intelligence issue, can be diagrammed in this manner. Such mapping is usually done for either of two purposes:
* By an individual or a group to help sort out their own thinking and achieve a shared understanding of key concepts. By getting the ideas out of their heads and down on paper or a
computer screen, the individual or group is better able to remember, critique, and modify the ideas.
* To facilitate the communication to others of a complex set of relationships. Examples are an intelligence report, a briefing, a school classroom, or a graphic prepared by an analyst for
prosecutors to use in a jury trial.
Value Added
Mapping facilitates the presentation or discussion of a complex body of information. It is useful
because it presents a considerable amount of information that can generally be seen at a glance.
Creating a visual picture of the basic structure of a complex problem helps analysts be as clear as possible in stating precisely what they want to express. Diagramming skills enable analysts to stretch their analytic capabilities.
Figure 4.9a Concept Map of Concept Mapping
Source: R. R. Hoffman and J. D. Novak, Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Pensacola, Fla. Reproduced with permission of the author.
Figure 4.9b Mind Map of Mind Mapping
Source: Illumine Training, “Mind Map,” www.mind-mapping.co.uk. Reproduced with permission of Illumine Training. With changes by Randy Pherson.
Mind Maps and Concept Maps vary greatly in size and complexity depending on how and why they are being used. When used for structured analysis, a Mind Map or a Concept Map is typically larger, sometimes much larger, than the examples shown in this chapter. Many are of modest size and complexity. Like any model, such a map is a simplification of reality. It does not necessarily try to capture all the nuances of a complex system of relationships. Instead, it provides, for example, an outline picture of the overall structure of a system of variables, showing which variables are relevant to a given problem or issue and how they are related to each other. Once you have this information, you are well along toward knowing what further research needs to be done and perhaps even how to organize the written report. For some projects, the diagram can be the analytical product or a key part of it.
When a Mind Map or Concept Map is created as a group project, its principal value may be the process the group goes through in constructing the map, not the map itself. When a group gets together to identify all the parts of a complex system and figure out how they relate to each other, the process often elicits new ideas, clarifies concepts, identifies relevant bodies of knowledge, and brings to the surface—and often resolves—differences of opinion at an early stage of a project before anything is put in writing. Although such a map may be a bare skeleton, the discussion will have revealed a great
deal more information than can be shown in a single map. The process also gives the group a shared experience and a common basis for further discussion. It ensures that this initial effort is truly a group effort at defining the problem, not something done by one member of the group and then presented after the fact for coordination by the others. Some mapping software supports virtual collaboration so that analysts at different locations can work on a map simultaneously and see each other’s work as it is done.4
After having participated in this group process to define the problem, the group should be better able to identify what further research needs to be done and able to parcel out additional work among the best qualified members of the group. The group should also be better able to prepare a report that represents as fully as possible the collective wisdom of the group as a whole.
Analysts and students also find that Mind Map and Concept Map software products are useful tools for taking notes during an oral briefing or lecture. By developing a map as the lecture proceeds, the analyst or student can chart the train of logic and capture all the data presented in a coherent map that includes all the key elements of the subject.
The Method
Start a Mind Map or Concept Map with a focal question that defines what is to be included. Then follow these steps:
Make a list of concepts that relate in some way to the focal question.
Starting with the first dozen or so concepts, sort them into groupings within the diagram space in some logical manner. These groups may be based on things they have in common or on their status as either direct or indirect causes of the matter being analyzed.
Begin making links between related concepts, starting with the most general concepts. Use lines with arrows to show the direction of the relationship. The arrows may go in either direction or in both directions.
Choose the most appropriate words for describing the nature of each relationship. The lines might be labeled with words such as “causes,” “influences,” “leads to,” “results in,” “is required by,” or “contributes to.” Selecting good linking phrases is often the most difficult step.
While building all the links between the concepts and the focal question, look for and enter crosslinks between concepts.
Don’t be surprised if, as the map develops, you discover that you are now diagramming on a different focus question from the one you started with. This can be a good thing. The purpose of a focus question is not to lock down the topic but to get the process going.
Finally, reposition, refine, and expand the map structure as appropriate.
Mind Mapping and Concept Mapping can be done manually, but mapping software is strongly recommended; it is much easier and faster to move concepts and links around on a computer screen than it is to do so manually. There are many different software programs for various types of mapping, and each has strengths and weaknesses. These products are usually variations of the main contenders, Mind Mapping and Concept Mapping. The two leading techniques differ in the following ways:
Mind Mapping has only one main or central idea, and all other ideas branch off from it radially
in all directions. The central idea is preferably shown as an image rather than in words, and images are used throughout the map. “Around the central word you draw the 5 or 10 main ideas that relate to that word. You then take each of those child words and again draw the 5 or 10 main ideas that relate to each of those words.”5 A Concept Map has a more flexible form. It can have multiple hubs and clusters. It can also be designed around a central idea, but it does not have to be and often is not designed that way. It does not normally use images. A Concept Map is usually shown as a network, although it too can be shown as a hierarchical structure like Mind Mapping when that is appropriate. Concept Maps can be very complex and are often meant to be viewed on a large-format screen.
Mind Mapping was originally developed as a fast and efficient way to take notes during briefings and lectures. Concept Mapping was originally developed as a means of mapping students’ emerging knowledge about science; it has a foundation in the constructivist theory of learning, which emphasizes that “meaningful learning involves the assimilation of new concepts and propositions into existing cognitive structures.”6 Concept Maps are frequently used as teaching tools. Most recently, they have come to be used to develop “knowledge models,” in which large sets of complex Concept Maps are created and hyperlinked together to represent analyses of complex domains or problems.
Relationship to Other Techniques
Mind and Concept Mapping can be used to present visually the results generated by a number of other techniques, especially the various types of brainstorming and/or Cross-Impact Analysis, both
described in chapter 5.
Origins of This Technique
Mapping is an old technique that has been given new life by the development of software that makes it both more useful and easier to use. Information on Concept Mapping is available at
http://cmap.ihmc.us/conceptmap.html. For information on Mind Mapping, see Tony and Barry Buzan, The Mind Map Book (Essex, England: BBC Active, 2006). For information on mapping in general, see Eric Hanson, “A Survey of Concept Mapping Tools,”
http://datalab.cs.pdx.edu/sidewalk/pub/survey.of.concept.maps; and Banxia Software, “What’s in a Name? Cognitive Mapping, Mind Mapping, Concept Mapping,”
www.banxia.com/dexplore/whatsinaname.html.