URBAN COGNITIVE MAPS: COMPUTATION AND STRUCTURE |
| |
| Authors: | Robert Lloyd Hartwell Hooper |
| |
| Institution: | 1. ROBERT LLOYD is Professor of Geography at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208.;2. HARTWELL HOOPER is The First National Bank of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA. |
| |
| Abstract: | Geographic research has not focused on the information we encode into our memories about the characteristics of locations. The accuracy of information encoded in urban cognitive maps, how information varies among individuals, and the structure of the information were studied. Experimental results indicated subjects were more accurate and consistent for socio-economic than for life-cycle characteristics. Some characteristics of the population in a neighborhood, such as race and income, may be more visible and easier to encode through direct contact than other less visible characteristics such as age. A theoretical argument is made that characteristics not encoded for locations can possibly be computed through their covariation with known characteristics. |
| |
| Keywords: | cognitive maps tacit knowledge urban structure |
|
|
