Investigating Cognitive Representations of Spatial Relationships

Samples of subjects from three different residential locations were asked to indicate their knowledge of the same environment by (a) estimating the distances between pairs of geographic locations and (b) arranging markers on a "map-board" to represent the locations and the distances between them. Comparisons of the results between methods revealed striking differences which lead to discrepant and even contradictory conclusions about the impact of residential location on cognitive representations of distance and of spatial relationships. On the basis of a logical analysis of task demands, it was tentatively concluded that the distance estimation procedure probably yields a more accurate portrayal of internal representations than does the mapping technique.