Seven studies of the ability of blind students (grades 4-12) to use tactile maps are reported in the last volume of a three-volume final report. The first study involving 36 blind students is explained to have suggested that line tracing and shape recognition skills differentiated good map readers from poor ones. The second study is reported to…

A framework for studying individual variation in tactile map reading is offered and a set of research guidelines suggested. It is argued that the reading process may be viewed as a many-leveled set of skills viewed from an information processing rather than a psychometric perspective. Individual variations are studied and classified. (Author/PB)