Cognitive maps

A cognitive map is a representative expression of an individual's cognitive map knowledge, where cognitive map knowledge is an individual's knowledge about the spatial and environmental relations of geographic space. For example, a sketch map drawn to show the route between two locations is a cognitive map — a representative expression of the drawer's knowledge of the route between the two locations. This map can be analyzed using classification schemes or quantitatively using spatial statistics. The drawing of a cognitive map is supplemented by a range of other measures designed to measure various aspects of cognitive map knowledge, including distance and direction tasks and more recently brain scans. These measures are important because they reveal fundamental aspects of cognition and reveal the cognitive processes that underlie spatial decision and choice making