Cognitive Mapping

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

The origin of cognitive mapping is derived from the field of cognition examining the internal mental models constructed by individuals. First introduced in 1945 by John von Neumann, cognitive mapping was used to compare computers and the human brain. The electronic circuits of a computer were described as analogous to a neuron firing in the brain, while computer programs were a metaphor for the way in which information was detected, stored, and recalled by the brain. This comparison was used by Edward Tolman to explain how mice repeatedly navigated their way through mazes. By developing a “map” of sensory information using smell and movement, mice were able to use selective recall to navigate through mazes. These behaviors were fine-tuned over repeated iterations.

During the 1980s, contemporary cognitive psychologists revisited this behavioral approach, arguing that human behavior is purposeful and goal-directed with intended expectancies to meet directed activities. Albert Bandura, for example, proposed that humans used activities to guide themselves and others through the behavioral, cognitive, and social processes of daily life. He illustrated this by arguing that a role of parents is to guide their children over time by articulating information to create boundaries that children can use to organize and interpret their world. The success or failure of this cognitive mapping is judged by the outcome of a child's behavior. The parents observe, reward, and/or generate new feedback depending on this outcome.

Cognitive mapping is well suited as a tool in qualitative research studies. It is particularly useful in case study research as it focuses on purposeful behavior in response to a phenomenon. To explore how individuals relate and respond to a given phenomenon, a “map” is created based upon assumptions, guidelines, and practices. By establishing boundaries through a series of geographic, temporal, organizational, institutional, or other defining criteria, a “map” is created that explains how a given phenomenon is realized in a specific context. Research studies are based on the design of structures that gather and analyze information by identifying, observing, and articulating the phenomenon in question. Developing cognitive mapping procedures enables researchers to see the phenomenon and to propose a conceivable research framework that can then produce problemsolving opportunities.

Application

Cognitive mapping is used by David Ausubel in the development of advanced organizers. He uses this method as a tool to provide a cognitive instructional strategy that promotes learning and retention of new information by students. By displaying phrases of words, students are exposed to a way of thinking about a subject prior to investigating it in detail. Richard Mayer notes this classification system enables learners to cognitively map or organize new information onto existing mental frameworks of categories or schemata. Existing knowledge is housed in expository organizers, while schemata that build connections between existing knowledge and new information are known as comparative organizers. Together, these cognitive maps enable the learner to accept, store, retrieve, and utilize existing with new information, to transfer knowledge, and to follow the process of problemsolving behavior and strategies.

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