Whenever we think about ourselves in relation to the physical spaces around us, we are using cognitive mapping. The term derives from the ‘cognitive map’, first proposed in 1948 by the American psychologist Edward C. Tolman to describe internal representations of spatial environments. It is now used across a range of disciplines to describe how we mentally negotiate, organise and accumulate spatial knowledge.

Image: Map from The Phantom Tollbooth (1961) ©Norton Juster.  Image courtesy of Ex Carta.