Relative Size of Continents on World Sketch Maps

On mental maps, at all scales, there is a tendency to exaggerate the size of the home area. To see whether there was a home continent exaggeration on sketch maps of the world, we used a subset of 438 maps from a world wide study of mental maps of the world. The subsample consisted of 20 maps from each of 22 sites, selected to include locations within each continent and dispersion latitudinally and longitudinally. On each map, the areas of the continent were calculated by means of a Numonics electronic planimeter attached to a computer. We compared the proportion of the total areas devoted to each continent to the actual proportions. Thus, we determined whether each contient tended to be exaggerated or diminished in size. The home continent was generally exaggerated. In addition, two unforeseen results were that Europe is always exaggerated, and Africa always diminished in size.