In view of the dramatic effects that alternative representations may produce on search and recognition processes, it may seem surprising that the differential effects on inference appear less strong. Inference is largely independent of representation if the information content of the two sets of inference rules [one operating on diagrams and the other operating on verbal statements] is equivalent—i. e. the two sets are isomorphs as they are in our examples

p. 71, as cited in: Bauer, Malcolm I., and Philip N. Johnson-Laird. "How diagrams can improve reasoning." Psychological Science 4.6 (1993): 372-378. - "Why a diagram is (sometimes) worth ten thousand words," (1987)

https://mentalmodels.princeton.edu/papers/1993diag...[mentalmodels.princeton.edu]