ABSTRACT

This chapter argues that its methodological integrity is central to the success of cognitive mapping research. Without sound empirical evidence to support theoretical arguments and application in practical projects, cognitive mapping research is open to criticism. Distance tasks assess a subject’s knowledge of the distance between locations. In his review, D. R. Montello identifies five groups of tests designed to measure cognitive distance estimates: ratio scaling, interval and ordinal scaling, mapping, reproduction and route choice. Ratio scaling, mapping and reproduction distance data have been analysed using linear/non-linear regression. The questioning of sketch mapping led to a reappraisal of other techniques. In the criticism identified that certain researchers, notably geographers, were borrowing techniques and ideas from psychology without a full appreciation of their merits and limitations. The phenomenologists called for a shift in emphasis away from trying to measure and explain spatial knowledge to a focus on the life-world of individuals and their values, morals, and ‘sense of place’.