Self‐Organized Cognitive Maps

This paper argues cognitive mapping is a learning process that can be simulated by a self‐organizing neural network. The learning of city locations was considered in two studies. One study focused on the learning of city locations on four continents. Results indicated the neural network aligned the cities producing systematic errors similar to those in human cognitive maps. A second study had a neural network learn a biased sample of city locations in the United States. Results indicated a non‐linear relationship between cognitive and physical distances. Self‐organized cognitive maps naturally produce this non‐linear relationship when information from more than one scale is mapped into one space.     

Improving the Cognitive Development of Students' Mental Maps of the World

Abstract

In this study, the author examines the use of four protocol lessons designed to aid 7th grade students in developing a clear mental map of the world. Two classes, involving 44 students, participated in the study. One class was taught using the instructional sequence common to the district's 7th grade world geography classes. The second class was instructed using the protocol lessons. A quantitative and qualitative assessment took place. The results indicated that students using the protocol lessons developed more detailed and accurate mental maps of the world than those instructed in the common sequence. The study advocates having students construct and work with maps, rather than simply filling in information on them.     

Using Web Maps to Analyze the Construction of Global Scale Cognitive Maps

Game-based Web sites and applications are changing the ways in which students learn the world map. In this study, a Web map-based digital learning tool was used as a study aid for a university-level geography course in order to examine the way in which global scale cognitive maps are constructed. A network analysis revealed that clicks were negatively correlated with familiarity, but were positively correlated with area. More significantly, well-known countries did not act as central nodes within network-based mental models, but served a more complex mediating role in structuring the space between subregions.     

Learning Spatial Information from Maps: Can Orientation-Specificity Be Overcome?*

Maps that facilitate learning and navigating through an environment will influence the form and content of cognitive representations developed of that environment. Cognitive representations derived from maps have been demonstrated to exhibit orientation-specificity, a bias toward the orientation at which the map was studied, while cognitive representations derived directly from the environment appear to be orientation-free. An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that multi-orientation map presentation can eliminate the usual orientation-specificity. Results support the hypothesis but suggest that elimination of orientation-specificity will come at the cost of decreased accuracy in the cognitive representation obtained and/or slower access to the stored information.     

The Cognitive Load of Geographic Information

Multimedia presentations that combine verbal and visual information are increasingly becoming important methods for communicating geographic information. This article discusses literature related to cognitive load theory (CLT) and offers ideas on how this theory might be used for geography education and research. By considering the limitations of the human mind, CLT offers geographers a way to assess critical components of the spatial learning processes. Methods for measuring cognitive load and reducing overloads are discussed within a map context. It is argued that managing the cognitive load experienced by learners is the key to representing geographic information.     

School Students' Understanding of Choropleth Maps: Evidence From Collaborative Mapmaking Using GIS

Abstract

Pairs of students from two age groups made choropleth maps using Arc View. Evidence from their discourse is used to assess aspects of their cartographic understanding as well as the nature of their collaboration. Students from both age groups spent a high percentage of their time talking about cartographic strategy and a low percentage of time on technical aspects of GIS functionality. Older students engaged in more reasoning and questioning. Key areas for teacher intervention include promoting better student understanding of what the mapped data mean (including directionality and numerical characteristics) and the most effective strategies for raising the level of students' conceptual exchange during collaborative learning.     

Illustrative Materials for Geography

Abstract

Studies dealing with characteristics of housing and settlement have been based almost entirely on field observation or aerial photographs. However, this report uses information from the Department of Census and Statistics of Ceylon to plot the distribution of dwellings with specific construction material characteristics for Ceylon, thus indicating an aspect of rural housing characteristics and settlement. Use of dwelling construction materials such as mud, clay, stone, brick, cadjan, and thatch can be related to physical characteristics of the area involved, availability of building materials, and level of living and culture of the inhabitants. Cost of construction material must also be considered. If similar housing data, but more complete and of greater scope, were available from the census of every nation, much could be achieved rapidly in the geography of settlement.     

Basic-Level Geographic Categories*

As we experience places, we learn about those places and generalize information into more abstract geographic categories. Rosch's basic-level theory argues that information known about objects is stored in our memories in a three-layered hierarchy. Data that could be used to test this theory in a geographic context was generated by having subjects make lists of activities, characteristics, and parts associated with 11 familiar geographic categories. An analysis of the distribution of information among the geographic categories confirmed two basic predictions of Rosch's theory. Significantly more information was stored in the basic-level geographic categories country, region, state, city, and neighborhood than in the superordinate category place. Significantly more information was not stored in subordinate categories home country, home region, home state, home city, and home neighborhood. The results suggest that geographic information is efficiently stored in memory so that much of what we know about geographic space is stored in basic-level categories that are both distinctive and informative.     

电子地图的空间认知研究

电子地图的空间认知研究是地图空间认知理论的重要研究内容。本文首先介绍了电子地图的概念与特点,分析了电子地图空间认知研究的必要性。在此基础上,探讨了电子地图空间认知研究的特点及主要内容。认为电子地图的空间认知研究具有内容更广泛、形式更复杂、实验难度更大等特点,电子地图空间认知的核心内容是从不同的电子地图上建立心象地图的过程及不同空间认知能力的用户在使用电子地图时的思维过程、认知策略的研究。     

The Use of Maps in Turkish Newspapers

This study analyzes the use of maps in Turkish newspapers in order to evaluate their potential to contribute to the enhancement of geographic knowledge in society. This study reviewed the content of three Turkish newspapers published between January 2008 and August 2012. Only 835 maps were used in the newspapers during the study period, or an average of 278 maps per newspaper. During the study period, about 15,720 news articles were published per month in the three newspapers; however, only five of these were illustrated with a map. The study reveals the potential for Turkish newspapers to increase society's geographic awareness with additional published maps.     

Mental Maps and Fuzziness in Space Preferences*

Mental maps are widely used to represent aggregate residential preferences in a population. This study examines the contention by researchers that the dominant viewpoint in a group in terms of residential desirability is not affected by the fuzziness in individual space preferences. Results indicate that a significant misrepresentation of group preferences can result when fuzziness of individual preferences is overlooked. The use of ordinal scales to generate mental maps is likely to distort the actual pattern of residential preferences that dominates in the group because of the failure of the ranking approach to account for imprecision and ambiguity in individual preferences. Because interval scales used in rating or evaluating tasks do not force individuals to give a crisp judgement of places, they are more adequate than ordinal scales for mental mapping and for behavioral analysis.     

COMPARING DISTORTION ON SKETCH MAPS AND MDS CONFIGURATIONS∗

The terms “pure'’and “applied'’were used in connection with mathematics and the sciences in the Nineteenth Century and were affixed to geography no later than 1890. This paper is a review of some early occurrences of the term “applied geography'’in the period 1890–1904.     

COMPARING DISTORTION ON SKETCH MAPS AND MDS CONFIGURATIONS*

The mental images on which an individual bases spatial decisions are often distorted versions of real-world geography. Distortion in these images is studied by extracting paired distance estimates and by requesting a sketch of a place drawn from memory. Reliance upon either technique to elicit large-scale spatial information assumes that distortion in the congnitive map is not introduced by the technique (sketching or configuration) used to construct it. Both techniques have been used in this study to produce cognitive maps for a common set of landmarks in Seattle. Map distortions are analyzed and compared to determine that significant differences result from the technique used.     

Sketch Maps and Qualitative GIS: Using Cartographies of Individual Spatial Narratives in Geographic Research

Mental and sketch maps have a long tradition in modern geography. Little theoretical and methodological distinction has been made, however, between different hand mapping approaches. Mental maps emerged from behavioral geography of the spatial science tradition as a technique to understand human behaviors based on peoples’ perceptions of their spatial environment. More recently, sketch maps have been used in participatory and qualitative geographic information systems (QGIS) to develop cartographies of group and individual spatial narratives. They are a tool that helps achieve QGIS's objectives of collecting unique spatial data of individual experiences, visualizing socio-spatial processes, breaking down particular barriers of positionality in research, and developing new uses of GIS. Two case studies illustrate the use of sketch maps in research, including a project examining job accessibility among working poor individuals and a study of the experiences of fear and safety in public spaces among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community members. Sketch maps in QGIS have many methodological merits. They add an invaluable dimension to the qualitative interview process, offer countermapping perspectives, generate detailed spatial information of individuals, and facilitate data interpretation.     

基于地名认知率的北京城市认知空间结构

基于对北京市居民空间认知的3500份调查问卷数据,采用了ARCGIS的空间插值和Geoda095i软件的空间自相关的数理统计方法,分析北京市居民的认知空间结构。研究得到四点结论：①认知地点的类型并不是影响认知率的因素。②居民对北京市的空间认知呈现出西高东低的“>”形格局,在西北—东南方向隆起动物园和北京火车站两个认知高峰,鞍部为低认知率的东方新天地和sogo崇光百货。③居民认知呈现明显的空间相关性和尺度依赖性。地名认知在较小的空间尺度上为高—高、低—低集聚的趋同性,在较大的空间尺度上表现为高-低集聚的趋异性,两者的转换尺度为城市居民日常生活空间的半径6 km左右。④北京城市的认知空间可细分为北海公园、中友百货、动物园和城乡贸易中心四个次级认知区域,次级认知区域为同质的高认知区,内部包含多个认知高峰。     

基于增强现实技术的纸质地图增强表达与交互

近年来随着计算机技术的发展,特别是增强现实技术的出现,使纸质地图的“增强”表达和交互分析成为可能。文章探讨了基于增强现实技术的纸质地图增强表达与交互分析流程方法,认为纸质地图增强表达和交互功能的关键技术在于：纸质地图标识的计算机识别,增强地图的空间匹配方法,增强地图的显示和交互方法;同时通过实验研发了原型系统并予以实现。利用增强现实技术扩展了纸质地图的可视化表达方法,把丰富的地理信息和纸质地图结合起来,打破了传统地图可视化的静态表现形式,提供了丰富的人机交互方式,能增强人对地理信息的多维动态感知能力,也增强补充了地图对现实世界的描述。     

The Use of Environmental Features on Tactile Maps by Navigators Who Are Blind

Maps designed for and used by sighted audiences benefit from map symbol standardization and convention but, with very limited exception (most notably two European projects), neither standardization nor convention guides the design and use of symbols for tactile maps. In this project, we developed and field tested symbolization for and use of tactile street maps. The development process included consultation with the literature as well as with field experts (orientation and mobility teachers, Braillists, and teachers working with students who are blind or have low vision). Following development, we undertook a three-year field testing and validation phase, in which we conducted pilot testing and formal testing with travelers who are blind or have low vision. Research results reveal not only a discriminable and useful tactile symbol set but also environmental feature use by travelers who are blind or have low vision.     

World Patterns of Geographic Literacy Based on Sketch Map Quality

This paper discusses world patterns of geographic literacy and illiteracy based on the quality of sketch maps of the world drawn by university students in first-year geography classes. The study, sponsored by the International Geographical Union and funded by the National Geographic Society, contains 3,568 sketch maps of the world collected from 75 sites in 52 countries. For the purposes of this paper, geographic literacy is equated with the number of nations and continents included on the sketch maps. The individual map scores are aggregated to determine the average number of items per map for each site and nation. Our set of maps provides a baseline of world variations in geographic literacy just prior to the end of the Cold War. The sketch map techniques can be used to monitor changes in geographic literacy.     

URBAN COGNITIVE MAPS: COMPUTATION AND STRUCTURE

Geographic research has not focused on the information we encode into our memories about the characteristics of locations. The accuracy of information encoded in urban cognitive maps, how information varies among individuals, and the structure of the information were studied. Experimental results indicated subjects were more accurate and consistent for socio-economic than for life-cycle characteristics. Some characteristics of the population in a neighborhood, such as race and income, may be more visible and easier to encode through direct contact than other less visible characteristics such as age. A theoretical argument is made that characteristics not encoded for locations can possibly be computed through their covariation with known characteristics.