A Critical Analysis of Cognitive or Cause Mapping: Its Application as a Management Tool For thousands of years mankind lived just like the animals And then something happened that unleashed the power of his imagination He learned to talk

For thousands of years mankind lived just like the animals And then something happened that unleashed the power of his imagination He learned to talk Pink Floyd I Introduction I-A What is a Cognitive Map? Cognitive maps or Cause maps were first used in 1948 by Edward C. Tolman. The idea however, of cognitive maps dates back to 1913, where Trowbridge carried out investigations in cognitive maps, which he called "imaginary maps". His primary interest was to investigate why some people were more easily confused when performing orientation tasks than were others. Though several definitions for cognitive maps exist, an attempt to define them precisely is inadequate. Research still continues. However, for a peripheral understanding of the psychological element that lies at the root of cognitive maps, they may be defined as under: 1. A cognitive map is a mental device that codes and simplifies the way our spatial environment is arranged. 2. A cognitive map is a neural mechanism which enables its user to solve navigation and orientation tasks as if using a real map of the environment.-Mallot Current theories suggest that humans as well as "higher developed" mammals have cognitive maps to map their environment into their brain, keeping a geometrical relationship. It is quite hard to find out how cognitive maps in humans and animals work, and even to prove their existence.