mental mapping
Imagining spatial layouts
Mental mapping is the cognitive process of creating an internal representation of physical space—how places connect, where things are located, how to navigate from one point to another.
Everyone builds mental maps of familiar environments: your neighborhood, your workplace, your commute.
The term also applies to visualizing abstract relationships: Mental mapping helps students organize complex information.
A mental map may be accurate or wildly distorted depending on experience and perception.
- place cellsNeurons encoding spatial position
- spatial awarenessSense of physical positioning
- wayfindingNavigating through physical spaces
- spatial memoryRecollection of layouts and positions
- navigationDetermining position and course
cartography · spatial reasoning · memory palace · bird's eye view · geolocation · conceptualization · orientation · systems thinking · route planning · street smarts · GPS · directions · urban planning · landmarks · visualization · pathways · flowcharts · neighborhood
- cognitionthinking, reasoning, thought, cognition, remembering
- navigationcompass, compass rose, signs, charts, navbar
- spatial skillsspatial awareness, spatial memory, depth perception, perspective taking, cognitive maps
- blind mobilitywhite cane, guide dog, guide dogs, mobility training, orientation training
- Pacific voyagingwaka, double hull, voyaging, outrigger canoe, wayfinding
- brain trainingbrain training, memory, focus, cognitive training, memory palace
mental mappingphysical map
Geography showing natural features
paper map · GPS navigation · street atlas · road map · digital map