This engaging book looks at how humans think and behave in geographic space. The authors analyze what people know about spatial geographical relationships, and how this knowledge is used in everyday life. They synthesize a variety of perspectives from various disciplines, providing a critical appraisal of geographic space. In doing so, the authors put forth new ideas and theories concerning cognitive mapping, and outline an agenda for future research.

"From driving the car to work to doing the shopping, our daily lives consist of a myriad of spatial behaviours - movements across and within spatial environments. Each day we make hundreds of complex spatial choices and spatial decisions. In the vast majority of cases we rely not on external references such as maps to make these choices but upon a previously acquired spatial understanding of the world in which we live - we rely upon our mind's spatial representation of the environment, our so-called 'cognitive map'. How we perceive our spatial environment, how our mind stores such information, and how we use it to make a wide variety of complex spatial decisions, are some of the concerns of cognitive mapping. These questions are fundamental for a wide range of disciplines and cognitive mapping has applications in environmental planning, cartography, transportation, migration, route learning and wayfinding, business location and consumer behaviour. In this first comprehensive overview for more than twenty years, Rob Kitchin and Mark Blades synthesize ideas and empirical findings from geography, planning, cartography, anthropology, computer science, psychology and cognitive science to provide a critical assessment of how we think about and behave in geographic space. They detail the current 'state of play' of cognitive mapping research, with detailed analysis of how spatial knowledge is created, stored, used and measured. Using these results and their own empirical research they put forward a new conceptual model of cognitive mapping which integrates research focused on specific aspects of cognitive mapping, and unites the theoretical traditions of behavioural geography and environmental psychology. In the final chapter they outline a research agenda to guide future studies. This new book from two leading researchers will be welcomed by those looking both for new ideas and the broader picture in this wide-ranging field of study."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

This book contains twenty-eight papers by participants in the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on "Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space," held in Las Navas del Maxques, Spain, July 8-20, 1990. The NATO ASI marked a stage in a two-year research project at the U. S. National Center for Geographic Infonnation and Analysis (NCOIA). In 1987, the U. S. National Science Foundation issued a solicitation for proposals to establish the NCGIA-and one element of that solicitation was a call for research on a "fundamental theory of spatial relations". We felt that such a fundamental theory could be searched for in mathematics (geometry, topology) or in cognitive science, but that a simultaneous search in these two seemingly disparate research areas might produce novel results. Thus, as part of the NCGIA proposal from a consortium consisting of the University of California at Santa Barbara, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and the University of Maine, we proposed that the second major Research Initiative (two year, multidisciplinary research project) of the NCOIA would address these issues, and would be called "Languages of Spatial Relations" The grant to establish the NCOIA was awarded to our consortium late in 1988.

20 years ago, from July 8 to 20, 1990, 60 researchers gathered for two weeks at Castillo-Palacio Magalia in Las Navas del Marques (Avila Province, Spain) to discuss cognitive and linguistic aspects of geographic space. This meeting was the start of successful research on cognitive issues in geographic information science, produced an edited book (D. M. Mark and A. U. Frank, Eds., 1991, Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space. NATO ASI Series D: Behavioural and Social Sciences 63. Kluwer, Dordrecht/Boston/London), and led to a biannual conference (COSIT), a refereed journal (Spatial Cognition and Computation), and a substantial and still growing research community. It appeared worthwhile to assess the achievements and to reconsider the research challenges twenty years later. What has changed in the age of computational ontologies and cyber-infrastructures? Consider that 1990 the web was only about to emerge and the very first laptops had just appeared! The 2010 meeting brought together many of the original participants, but was also open to others, and invited contributions from all who are researching these topics. Early-career scientists, engineers, and humanists working at the intersection of cognitive science and geographic information science were invited to help with the re-assessment of research needs and approaches. The meeting was very successful and compared the research agenda laid out in the 1990 book with achievements over the past twenty years and then turned to the future: What are the challenges today? What are worthwhile goals for basic research? What can be achieved in the next 20 years? What are the lessons learned? This edited book will assess the current state of the field through chapters by participants in the 1990 and 2010 meetings and will also document an interdisciplinary research agenda for the future.

With GIS technologies ranging from Google Maps and Google Earth to the use of smart phones and in-car navigation systems, spatial knowledge is often acquired and communicated through geographic information technologies. This monograph describes the interplay between spatial cognition research and use of spatial interfaces. It begins by reviewing what is known about how humans process spatial concepts and then moves on to discuss how interfaces can be improved to take advantage to those capabilities. Special attention is given to a variety of innovative geographical platforms that provide users with an intuitive understanding and support the further acquisition of spatial knowledge. The monograph concludes with a discussion of the number of outstanding issues, including the changing nature of maps as the primary spatial interface, concerns about privacy for spatial information, and a look at the future of user-centered spatial information systems. Table of Contents: Introduction / Spatial Cognition / Technologies / Cognitive Interfaces for Wayfinding / Open Issues / For More Information

With spatial technologies ranging from mapping software to the use of location-based services, spatial knowledge is often acquired and communicated through geographic information technologies. This book describes the interplay between spatial cognition research and use of spatial interfaces. It begins by reviewing what is known about how humans process spatial concepts and then moves on to discuss how interfaces can be improved to take advantage of those capabilities by disambiguating cognitive aspects, conceptual aspects, computational aspects, and communications aspects. Special attention is given to a variety of innovative geographical platforms that provide users with an intuitive understanding and support the further acquisition of spatial knowledge. Alternatives to shortest-path algorithms to explore more scenic routes, as well as individual user differences that can emerge from previous experiences with virtual spaces, are also discussed. The book concludes with a discussion of the number of outstanding issues, including the changing nature of maps as the primary spatial interface, concerns about privacy for spatial information, and looks at the future of user-centered spatial information systems.