THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACTUAL AND COGNITIVE STATE SIZES*

Relative size is a spatial concept that can increase our understanding of environmental cognition. Data from questionnaires tested several hypotheses about size distortion of states. Subjects distorted sizes logarithmically except in a zone of indiscrimination that included eight states. Male subjects were more accurate than female subjects in the estimation of actual state sizes; however, a sex-linked territoriality was not identified.