Image and Environment: Cognitive Mapping and Spatial Behavior

Cognitive mapping is a construct that encompasses those processes that enable people to acquire, code, store, recall, and manipulate information about the nature of their spatial environment. It refers to the attributes and relative locations of people and objects in the environment, and is an essential component in the adaptive process of spatial decision-making—such as finding a safe and quick route to from work, locating potential sites for a new house or business, and deciding where to travel on a vacation trip.

Cognitive processes are not constant, but undergo change with age or development and use or learning. Image and Environment, now in paperback, is a pioneer study. It brings a new academic discipline to a wide audience. The volume is divided into six sections, which represent a comprehensive breakdown of cognitive mapping studies: "Theory"; "Cognitive Representations"; "Spatial Preferences"; "The Development of Spatial Cognition"; "Geographical and Spatial Orientation"; and "Cognitive Distance." Contributors include Edward Tolman, James Blaut, Stephen Kaplan, Terence Lee, Donald Appleyard, Peter Orleans, Thomas Saarinen, Kevin Cox, Georgia Zannaras, Peter Gould, Roger Hart, Gary Moore, Donald Griffin, Kevin Lynch, Ulf Lundberg, Ronald Lowrey, and Ronald Briggs.

Cognitive mapping, in the words of Downs (geography, Pennsylvania State U.) and Stea (geography and planning, Southwest Texas State U.), "is a construct which encompasses those cognitive processes which enable people to acquire, code, store, recall, and manipulate information about the nature of their spatial environment." Intending the volume as an integrated introduction to the field of cognitive mapping, they present 19 solicited contributions that discuss overall theory, various aspects of cognitive representations of spatial environments, the development of spatial cognition, geographical and spatial orientation, and cognitive concepts of distance. As the paperbound edition of a work first published in 1973, the volume's emphasis on the review of the contemporary literature means that the collection may also serve as a snapshot of the state of the field 30 years ago. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Roger M. Downs is head of the Department of Geography at Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in geography from the University of Bristol in 1970 and has also taught geography and environmental engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

David Stea is professor of geography and planning at Southwest Texas State University and Enrique A. Aragon Distinguished Professor at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico. He received his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University in 1964 and has also taught at the U.S. International University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, UCLA, Clark University, Brown University, and Stanford University.

Kenneth E. Boulding (1910-1993) was professor of economics at the University of Colorado and president of many scholarly associations including the American Economic Association, the Society for General Systems Research, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He authored numerous books including Towards a New Economics: Critical Essays on Ecology, Distribution, and Other Themes; Three Faces of Power; and The World as a Total System.