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. This volume is divided into six sections, which represent a comprehensive breakdown of cognitive mapping studies.

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 Aut¾noma 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.