The "Map in the Head" Metaphor

The "Map in the Head" metaphor states that knowledge of large-scale space is isomorphic to the information stored in a graphical map: That is, corresponding operations are used to store and retrieve information. The purpose of this essay is to look carefully at the "Map in the Head" metaphor to see the limits of its applicability. There are two types of experimental results that are difficult to accommodate within this metaphor. First, instead of being integrated into a single map, spatial knowledge can fall into disconnected components, with little or no relation between the components. Second, knowledge of routes (and other spatial facts) may be represented asymmetrically, so that a route can be followed in one direction but not in the other. The first set of results leads us to replace the simple "Map in the Head" with a more complex and sophisticated metaphor including separate metrical and topological components. The second set of results suggests that even the more sophisticated "Map in the Head" is built from computational structures that occasionally reveal their nonmaplike properties. A computational model is presented for assimilating observations gathered during travel, first into a description of the particular route, then into representations for the topological and metrical features of the environment.

[1]  C. C. Trowbridge ON FUNDAMENTAL METHODS OF ORIENTATION AND "IMAGINARY MAPS". , 1913, Science.

[2]  E. Tolman Cognitive maps in rats and men. , 1948, Psychological review.

[3]  J. Piaget,et al.  Child's Conception Of Geometry , 1960 .

[4]  Kevin Lynch,et al.  The Image of the City , 1960 .

[5]  Terence Lee Perceived Distance as a Function of Direction in the City , 1970 .

[6]  D. Appleyard Styles and Methods of Structuring a City , 1970 .

[7]  R. Shepard,et al.  Second-order isomorphism of internal representations: Shapes of states ☆ , 1970 .

[8]  R. Hart,et al.  The Development of Spatial Cognition: A Review. , 1973 .

[9]  S. Kosslyn,et al.  Cognitive maps in children and men. , 1974, Child development.

[10]  A. Siegel,et al.  The development of spatial representations of large-scale environments. , 1975, Advances in child development and behavior.

[11]  H L Pick,et al.  The content and manipulation of cognitive maps in children and adults. , 1976, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[12]  Stephen M. Kosslyn,et al.  A Simulation of Visual Imagery , 1977, Cogn. Sci..

[13]  B. Kuipers Modelling spatial knowledge , 1977, IJCAI 1977.

[14]  L. Kozlowski,et al.  Sense of Direction, Spatial Orientation, and Cognitive Maps. , 1977 .

[15]  Benjamin Kuipers,et al.  Modeling Spatial Knowledge , 1978, IJCAI.

[16]  R. Golledge,et al.  Environmental Knowing: Theories, Research and Methods , 1978 .

[17]  D. Marr,et al.  Representation and recognition of the spatial organization of three-dimensional shapes , 1978, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[18]  H. Pick,et al.  The development of children's representations of large-scale environments. , 1978 .

[19]  Benjamin Kuipers,et al.  ON REPRESENTING COMMONSENSE KNOWLEDGE , 1979 .

[20]  Benjamin Kuipers,et al.  Common-Sense Knowledge of Space: Learning from Experience , 1979, IJCAI.

[21]  T Gaerling ENVIRONMENTAL ORIENTATION DURING LOCOMOTION. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF HUMAN PROCESSING OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPATIAL LAYOUT OF THE ENVIRONMENT , 1980 .

[22]  Nicholas V. Findler,et al.  Associative Networks- Representation and Use of Knowledge by Computers , 1979, CL.

[23]  Nils J. Nilsson,et al.  Principles of Artificial Intelligence , 1980, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.