ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book utilizes the term ‘cognitive mapping’ as a descriptive title for the field of study concerned with understanding spatial thought and ‘cognitive map’ to denote a person’s spatial knowledge of the environment regardless of form. It aims to go beyond the scope of the symposium providing an account of past, present and future research within a specific field of enquiry, cognitive mapping. The book provides a brief history of the main developments leading to the present thinking and empirical approaches, and a comprehensive overview of the field of cognitive mapping, taking into account the range of discernible sub-fields. It also presents a useful source book to researchers in a number of disciplines interested in cognitive mapping research and also provide impetus for future interdisciplinary collaboration.
