J. M. Blaut

Mapping as a Cultural and Cognitive Universal

Abstract We hypothesize that nearly all humans, in all cultures, acquire the ability to read and use map-like models in very early childhood, and that this ability is a fundamental part of human ecological adaptation, comparable in many ways to tool use. Evidence pertaining to this theory should be sought in three kinds of research: studies in differing cultures of the development of young childrens ability to use map-like models; studies probing for evidence of map-like modeling across the ethnographic spectrum; and studies probing for evidence of the use of map-like models in prehistory. We are pursuing all three lines of research. However, our main focus thus far has been on the developmental dimension of the problem. Here, we report evidence that supports the universality hypothesis from seven empirical studies carried out on mapping abilities of three- to five-year-old children in several Western and non-Western cultures; we offer a general ecological theory of the development of mapping abilities, a theory that appears to explain the evidence elicited and accords with the universality hypothesis; and we discuss the implications of this work for early childhood education.

Mapping at the Age of Three

Abstract A study of toy-play mapping by three-, four-, and five-year-old children demonstrates that children can clearly represent a cognitive map at the age of three. Mapping, therefore, is developmentally primitive, and formal map-learning can begin at the age of school entrance.

Mapping as a Cultural Universal

This chapter discusses the hypothesis that mapping behavior, the making of map like models, is a cultural universal, an important component of ecological behavior. The essay presents a theoretical framework for the hypothesis and discusses three categories of evidence developmental, prehistoric, and cross-cultural — which support the hypothesis. Humans must visualize, analyze, describe, and communicate the nature of large environments perceived atomistically, and therefore they create material representations depicting environments as if seen as a whole, from overhead. The result is an organized sign system with certain linguistic properties, including two syntactic transformations (rotation/projection and scale reduction), and the semantic representation of landscape features as iconic or abstract signs. This concept of the map yields useful criteria for the identification and study of maps in culture, history, and behavior. Many examples of prehistoric imagery, mostly parietal, extending to periods earlier than the Neolithic (of both geographical hemispheres), appear map-like, giving evidence of rotated, scale-reduced, and abstracted depiction of the environment and suggesting that mapping may have represented a form of adaptive behavior for modern humans. In a few cases, which are discussed, the representation depicts a real local landscape. Ethnographic studies, while in general not concerned with mapping, have provided evidence that mapping activity occurs in many contemporary cultures. Studies of the behavior of very young children, finally, indicate that mapping abilities appear much earlier than generally supposed, and seem to play an important role in early development.1

Piagetian Pessimism and the Mapping Abilities of Young Children: A Rejoinder to Liben and Downs

M y critique of Downs, Liben, and Daggs (1988) in this Forum pointed out serious errors in the argument of that paper, an argument designed to refute the view that children of school-entering age have sturdy mapping abilities and can readily cope with a map-skills curriculum. In their reply, Liben and Downs did not respond to any of my very specific criticisms of their research methods and conclusions. Instead, they widened the terms of the debate, arguing that Piagetian theory somehow validates their work, claiming that a proper study of all their relevant papers would show that they are not really as pessimistic about young childrens abilities as I asserted, and caricaturing my own views. I offer now a rejoinder to these new arguments. My first concern is to set the issue in context by showing the connections between educational pessimism and the form of Piagetian theory which Liben and Downs espouse. Then I will rebut their specific claims and charges.

Mapping Abilities of Four-Year-Old Children in York, England

Abstract This study reports on the ability of preschool-age children to interpret a black-and-white vertical aerial photograph and to solve a simulated navigation problem on the photo. Preschool-age children in York, England, successfully identified landscape features and solved navigation problems on a 1:1,300 air photo of a section of nearby Sheffield. Both verbal and nonverbal probes were employed. While a steadily increasing body of evidence has tended to contradict the conventional idea that children cannot learn map skills until much later in life, this study shows that children as young as four years old have significant untaught mapping abilities. The results suggest that children upon entering school may be able to benefit from much richer geographical learning experiences than are at present provided.

Maps and Spaces

Two quite different concepts of space are important in geography and environmental psychology. One is the concept of macro-environment, of space as geographical scale. The other is the concept of form-at-a-timeless-instant: of naive geometry. Confusing these two concepts leads to serious errors. This paper examines some methodological and philosophical sources of this confusion, and points to a number of research problems in geography and psychology that can benefit from an untangling of the two concepts of space. One such problem is the need to understand the development of mapping abilities in very young children. Another is the larger question of building a body of theory to explain the development of macro-environmental cognition and behavior.

Place perception in perspective

Abstract This paper describes the Place Perception Project, a research program at Clark University and other institutions which studied place (macro-environmental) learning and behavior of children aged 3 to 9 years in several cultures. It was found that place learning displays marked differences from other forms of learning in children and that map-like spatial cognition is observable at the age of 3. The findings proved useful in elementary education and other applications.

Some Principles of Ethnogeography

Geography is a belief-system. This says nothing about the truth of its statements. True or false, they are believed in.