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On early cognitive mapping

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Spatial Cognition and Computation

Abstract

In this paper we examine the nature of theearly cognitive map – the beginnings of acognitive map formed from one's earlyimpressions of the environment one is in. Twodistinct paradigms have emerged from ourstudies of what information is initially identified in a cognitive map. The first, which weterm a space-based approach, emphasises makingexplicit the spatial extent of the currentlocal environment. The second emphasises makingexplicit the relationships between objects inthe local environment and we call this anobject-based approach. For both paradigms weexamine the psychological literature to findsupport for the approach and the roboticists'attempts at implementing the idea. We arguethat a space-based approach is the moreappropriate way to compute an early cognitivemap. In particular, we find that Siegel andWhite's (1975) object-based hypothesis, whichstates that the developmental progression of acognitive map is from landmark to route tosurvey map, is not supported. The space-basedparadigm underpins our own work in this areaand we outline our own space-based theory forcomputing an early cognitive map.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    W.K. Yeap

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand

    M.E. Jefferies

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  1. W.K. Yeap
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Yeap, W., Jefferies, M. On early cognitive mapping. Spatial Cognition and Computation 2, 85–116 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011447309938

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