Cognitive Maps and Spatial Cognition

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering spatial cognition, cognitive map acquisition, spatial frameworks, neurological structures, distance estimation effects, and systematic heuristics.

Spatial Cognition

How we mentally represent and navigate through space.

Space of the Body

A category of space referring to where your body parts are.

Space Around the Body

A category of space referring to an individual's immediate surroundings.

Space of Navigation

A category of space referring to larger spaces through which navigation occurs.

Cognitive Maps

Mental representations of our knowledge of environment layouts that allow us to navigate.

Survey Knowledge

A method of building cognitive maps through a bird's-eye view perspective.

Route Knowledge

A method of building cognitive maps that is gained directly from navigation.

Taylor and Tversky (1992)

A study examining whether spatial representations depend on how they are learned (via survey descriptions from above vs. route descriptions from within), concluding that representations are flexible and not tied to the original learning situation.

Franklin and Tversky

A study in which participants were given a description, turned $180^\circ$, and timed on how quickly they could locate a target.

Spatial Framework Model

A model stating that the relative primacy of spatial dimensions depends on how we interact with our environment.

Above/Below Dimension

In the spatial framework model, an asymmetric dimension considered very important because it is correlated with gravity.

Ahead/Behind Dimension

A spatial dimension in the spatial framework model that is noted as also important for interacting with the environment.

Left/Right Dimension

A spatial dimension in the spatial framework model considered not as important as above/below or ahead/behind.

O'Keefe and Nadel (1978)

Researchers who established the neurological basis that the hippocampus is responsible for making and storing cognitive maps.

Hippocampus

The brain structure responsible for making and storing cognitive maps.

Intervening Cities Effect

A distance estimation distortion where the presence of more intervening cities makes two locations seem further apart.

Semantic Categories (Distance Estimation)

A distance estimation distortion where items belonging to the same semantic category are judged as being closer together.

Heuristics

Rules of thumb or informal rules used for problem-solving that can lead to systematic distortions in cognitive representations.

Symmetry Heuristic

A systematic distortion where environments or objects (such as buildings) are remembered as more regular than they actually are.

Alignment Heuristic

A systematic distortion where spatial structures or landmarks are remembered as being more orderly.

Rotation Heuristic

A systematic distortion where boundaries and geographic features are mentally rotated to conform to neater north/south/east/west ($\text{N/S/E/W}$) lines.

Constructive Imagery

The principle that mental imagery is constructive rather than direct copies of external stimuli, causing humans to regularize environments in their minds.