A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information. A mind map is  hierarchical and shows relationships among pieces of the whole. It is often created  around a single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank page, to which  associated representations of ideas such as images, words and parts of words are  added. Major ideas are connected directly to the central concept, and other ideas  branch out from those major ideas.

Mind maps can also be drawn by hand, either as "notes" during a lecture, meeting  or planning session, for example, or as higher quality pictures when more time is  available. Mind maps are considered to be a type of spider diagram. A similar  concept in the 1970s was "idea sun bursting"

Although the term "mind map" was first popularized by British popular  psychology author and television personality Tony Buzan, the use of diagrams  that visually "map" information using branching and radial maps traces back  centuries. These pictorial methods record knowledge and model systems, and  have a long history in learning, brainstorming, memory, visual thinking,  and problem solving by educators, engineers, psychologists, and others. Some of  the earliest examples of such graphical records were developed by Porphyry of  Tyros, a noted thinker of the 3rd century, as he graphically visualized the  concept categories of Aristotle. Philosopher Ramon Llull (1235–1315) also used  such techniques.

The semantic network was developed in the late 1950s as a theory to understand  human learning and developed further by Allan M. Collins and M. Ross Quillian  during the early 1960s. Mind maps are similar in structure to concept maps,  developed by learning experts in the 1970s, but differ in that mind maps are  simplified by focusing around a single central key concept.

Effectiveness

Cunningham (2005) conducted a user study in which 80% of the students thought  "mindmapping helped them understand concepts and ideas in science". Other  studies also report some subjective positive effects on the use of mind  maps. Positive opinions on their effectiveness, however, were much more  prominent among students of art and design than in students of computer and  information technology, with 62.5% vs 34% (respectively) agreeing that they  were able to understand concepts better with mind mapping software. Farrand,  Hussain, and Hennessy (2002) found that spider diagrams (similar to concept  maps) had limited, but significant, impact on memory recall in undergraduate  students (a 10% increase over baseline for a 600-word text only) as compared to  preferred study methods (a 6% increase over baseline). This improvement was  only robust after a week for those in the diagram group and there was a significant  decrease in motivation compared to the subjects' preferred methods of note  taking. A meta study about concept mapping concluded that concept mapping is  more effective than "reading text passages, attending lectures, and participating

in class discussions".The same study also concluded that concept mapping is  slightly more effective "than other constructive activities such as writing  summaries and outlines". However, results were inconsistent, with the authors  noting "significant heterogeneity was found in most subsets". In addition, they  concluded that low-ability students may benefit more from mind mapping than  high-ability students.

Features

Joeran Beel and Stefan Langer conducted a comprehensive analysis of the content  of mind maps. They analysed 19,379 mind maps from 11,179 users of the mind  mapping applications SciPlore MindMapping (now Docear) and MindMeister.  Results include that average users create only a few mind maps (mean=2.7),  average mind maps are rather small (31 nodes) with each node containing about  three words (median). However, there were exceptions. One user created more  than 200 mind maps, the largest mind map consisted of more than 50,000 nodes  and the largest node contained ~7,500 words. The study also showed that between  different mind mapping applications (Docear vs MindMeister) significant  differences exist related to how users create mind maps.

Automatic creation

There have been some attempts to create mind maps automatically. Brucks &  Schommer created mind maps automatically from full-text streams.  Rothenberger et al. extracted the main story of a text and presented it as mind  map. And there is a patent about automatically creating sub-topics in mind maps.

Tools

Mind-mapping software can be used to organize large amounts of information,  combining spatial organization, dynamic hierarchical structuring and node  folding. Software packages can extend the concept of mind-mapping by allowing  individuals to map more than thoughts and ideas with information on their  computers and the Internet, like spreadsheets, documents, Internet sites and  images. It has been suggested that mind-mapping can improve learning/study  efficiency up to 15% over conventional note-taking.


A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information . A mind map is hierarchical and shows relationships among pieces of the whole . It is often created around a single concept , drawn as an image in the center of a blank page , to which associated representations of ideas such as images , words and parts of words are added . Major ideas are connected directly to the central concept , and other ideas branch out from those major ideas . Mind maps can also be drawn by hand , either as " notes " during a lecture , meeting or planning session , for example , or as higher quality pictures when more time is available . Mind maps are considered to be a type of spider diagram . A similar concept in the 1970s was " idea sun bursting " Although the term " mind map " was first popularized by British popular psychology author and television personality Tony Buzan , the use of diagrams that visually " map " information using branching and radial maps traces back centuries . These pictorial methods record knowledge and model systems , and have a long history in learning , brainstorming , memory , visual thinking , and problem solving by educators , engineers , psychologists , and others . Some of the earliest examples of such graphical records were developed by Porphyry of Tyros , a noted thinker of the 3rd century , as he graphically visualized the concept categories of Aristotle . Philosopher Ramon Llull ( 1235–1315 ) also used such techniques . The semantic network was developed in the late 1950s as a theory to understand human learning and developed further by Allan M. Collins and M. Ross Quillian during the early 1960s . Mind maps are similar in structure to concept maps , developed by learning experts in the 1970s , but differ in that mind maps are simplified by focusing around a single central key concept . Effectiveness Cunningham ( 2005 ) conducted a user study in which 80 % of the students thought " mindmapping helped them understand concepts and ideas in science " . Other studies also report some subjective positive effects on the use of mind maps . Positive opinions on their effectiveness , however , were much more prominent among students of art and design than in students of computer and information technology , with 62.5 % vs 34 % ( respectively ) agreeing that they were able to understand concepts better with mind mapping software . Farrand , Hussain , and Hennessy ( 2002 ) found that spider diagrams ( similar to concept maps ) had limited , but significant , impact on memory recall in undergraduate students ( a 10 % increase over baseline for a 600 - word text only ) as compared to preferred study methods ( a 6 % increase over baseline ) . This improvement was only robust after a week for those in the diagram group and there was a significant decrease in motivation compared to the subjects ' preferred methods of note taking . A meta study about concept mapping concluded that concept mapping is more effective than " reading text passages , attending lectures , and participating in class discussions" . The same study also concluded that concept mapping is slightly more effective " than other constructive activities such as writing summaries and outlines " . However , results were inconsistent , with the authors noting " significant heterogeneity was found in most subsets " . In addition , they concluded that low - ability students may benefit more from mind mapping than high - ability students . Features Joeran Beel and Stefan Langer conducted a comprehensive analysis of the content of mind maps . They analysed 19,379 mind maps from 11,179 users of the mind mapping applications SciPlore MindMapping ( now Docear ) and MindMeister . Results include that average users create only a few mind maps ( mean=2.7 ) , average mind maps are rather small ( 31 nodes ) with each node containing about three words ( median ) . However , there were exceptions . One user created more than 200 mind maps , the largest mind map consisted of more than 50,000 nodes and the largest node contained ~7,500 words . The study also showed that between different mind mapping applications ( Docear vs MindMeister ) significant differences exist related to how users create mind maps . Automatic creation There have been some attempts to create mind maps automatically . Brucks & Schommer created mind maps automatically from full - text streams . Rothenberger et al . extracted the main story of a text and presented it as mind map . And there is a patent about automatically creating sub - topics in mind maps . Tools Mind - mapping software can be used to organize large amounts of information , combining spatial organization , dynamic hierarchical structuring and node folding . Software packages can extend the concept of mind - mapping by allowing individuals to map more than thoughts and ideas with information on their computers and the Internet , like spreadsheets , documents , Internet sites and images . It has been suggested that mind - mapping can improve learning / study efficiency up to 15 % over conventional note - taking .