ABSTRACT
There is convincing evidence that humans and other animals do not develop instantaneous, complete, and precise spatial knowledge of any given environment. Such knowledge traditionally accrues during and after wayfinding. Researchers such as Stea et al. (1996) hypothesize that activating processes of ecological macroenvironmental thinking and behaving requires both cognitive and external mapping. Macroenvironments are so vast and complex that they ordinarily cannot be observed as a whole from any single earthbound vantage point – although we currently have the ability to observe significantly large parts of the global surface from satellites or space stations. In the absence of this ability, however, our perception, cognition, and planning of travel behavior in macroenvironments call for distinctive actions. Historically, one of these has been the making of material maps or map-like pictures, diagrams, or models that facilitate comprehension of the layout of features that normally cannot be observed from a single vantage point.
