cognitive map

American  

noun

1. Psychology.  a mental picture of one's physical or spatial environment.

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cognitive map British  

noun

1. psychol a mental map of one's environment

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Other Word Forms

• cognitive mapping noun

Etymology

Origin of cognitive map

First recorded in 1948; first used by behavioral psychologist Edward C. Tolman

Example Sentences

The first step was allowing the rats to create a baseline cognitive map of this virtual environment.

From Scientific American

John O’Keefe shared The Kavli Prize in Neuroscience in 2014 for discovering that neurons in the hippocampus encode an animal’s location and create a cognitive map for navigation.

From Scientific American

Neurons in the hippocampus called “place” cells selectively respond to being in specific locations, forming a cognitive map of the environment.

From Scientific American

Tolman—a proponent of that school—coined the term: the cognitive map.

From Scientific American

“If you don’t have a cognitive map, a representation in the mind of how you are going to achieve it, then there is no way to sustain your goal.”

From The Guardian