Three Spaces of Spatial Cognition

All our lives, we interact with the space around us, whether we are finding our way to a remote cabana in an exotic tropical isle or reaching for a ripe mango on the tree beside the cabana or finding a comfortable position in the hammock to snack after the journey. Each of these natural situations is experienced differently, and as a consequence, each is conceptualized differently. Our knowledge of space, unlike geometry or physical measurements of space, is constructed out of the things in space, not space itself. Mental spaces are schematized, eliminating detail and simplifying features around a framework consisting of elements and the relations among them. Our research suggests that which elements and spatial relations are included and how they are schematized varies with the space in ways that reflect our experience in the space. The space of navigation is too large to be seen from a single place (short of flying over it, but that is a different experience). To find our way in a large environment requires putting together information from different views or different sources. For the most part, the space of navigation is conceptualized as a two-dimensional plane, like a map. Maps, too, are schematized, yet they differ in significant ways from mental representations of space. The space around the body stands in contrast to the space of navigation. It can be seen from a single place, given rotation in place. It is the space of immediate action, our own or the things around us. It is also conceptualized schematically, but in three dimensions. Finally, there is the space of our own bodies. This space is the space of our own actions and our own sensations, experienced from the inside as well as the outside. It is schematized in terms of our limbs. Knowledge of these three spaces, that is, knowledge of the relative locations of the places in navigation space that are critical to our lives, knowledge of the space we are currently interacting with, and knowledge of the space of our bodies, is essential to finding our way in the world, to fulfilling our needs, and to avoiding danger, in short, necessary to survival.