Ewolucja pojęcia mapy poznawczej w psychologii. Przegląd badań dotyczących hierarchii planów i celów działania

The article deals with the main theories of cognitive maps as well as their role in explanatory process of structuralization of plans and goals of activity. Orientation on the basis of cognitive maps and finding a path to a goal require regulation by knowledge about the self and the world. A cognitive map allows for effective activities and satisfaction of various deficiencies in the available environment and finding the optimal environment. A cognitive map of life space is a group of elements composed of regions separated by boundaries. The subjective behavioral level, as the mobility within a life space, is an exploration of the present image of the world as well as anticipated one in the relation to a person. Construction of cognitive maps is supported by the process of mental imagining and also by the rules of a language and the processes of knowledge acquisition and usage. Construction of cognitive maps is related to the development of personality and structuralization of identity. The maps ensure frames of reference for assimilation and interpretation of non-spatial information. The increasing mobility of society puts more and more weight on the question where to live and work. Cognitive mapping allows for making this choice as it facilitates comparison of regions of life space.