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Cognitive Mapping
Cognitive maps arrange the information gained through sense and perception into a mental framework that can be accessed in real time. A cognitive map is not necessarily the equivalent of a cartographic map as the name suggests,
Specific cells have been identified in the brain that contribute to the process of cognitive mapping such as place cells which repeatedly become active when an animal is in a specific environment. It has been seen that the same place cells can activate for constructing cognitive maps of varying environments but their relationship to other place cells vary with each map.29 Spatial view cells become active when viewing a specific section of an environment or object, different cells represent different directional views towards a specific object. They differ from place cells as they do not include any locational data but rather a specific view of a scene. Research has identified these cells as responding when a specific scene is being recalled from memory. Head directional cells act much like a compass to record the direction of the head using proprioception and the vestibular system, they work with the spatial view cells and place cells to orient views in relation to one another. The process of path integration and dead reckoning30 takes place in grid cells and the specific views from the spatial view cells and place cells are orientated in relation to the specific locations.
The process of spatial cognition from sensory input, to perception, to cognitive mapping and memory is by no means an accurate representation of the physical world. Perceptions can differ from reality through ambiguous information provided by the senses and then that information is arranged into a cognitive map which can be warped and non-Euclidean and combined with information from other spaces. When we try to recall a cognitive map of an environment we can be failed by our memory and the mixing of other memories. This process leaves a potential fracture between what we believe to be the arrangement of an environment and its physical properties. 28 Golledge, R., et al, Spatial Behaviour: A Geographic Perspective, Guildford Press, New York, 1997 29 O’Keefe, J. et al, The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1978 30 The process of identifying ones orientation and position from that of a previous position.
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Cognitive maps can be accessed, reproduced and reorientated depending on the context of the task required. They span over all the senses and include information on other environments, such as memories, relationships, social and political meanings.
EXPERIENCING AND PROCESSING PHYSICAL SPACE
‘it is not assumed that a cognitive map is an equivalent of a cartographic map, nor is it assumed that there is a simple Euclidean one-to-one mapping between a piece of objective reality and a person’s cognitive map of that reality. Cognitive maps are generally assumed to be incomplete, distorted, mixedmetric representations of real-world environments, but they can also be maps of the imaginary environments represented in literature, folk tales, legends, song, paintings, or film.’28 - Reginald Golledge
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