A Cross-Cultural Study of Young Children's Mapping Abilities

• Published in: Transactions - Institute of British Geographers (1965) Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 269 - 277
• Main Authors: Blades, Mark, Blaut, J M, Darvizeh, Zhra, Elguea, Silvia, Sowden, Steve, Soni, Dhiru, Spencer, Christopher, Stea, David, Surajpaul, Roy, Uttal, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.1998; Royal Geographical Society (With the Institute of British Geographers); Institute of British Geographers
• Subjects: Behaviour and perception; Bgi / Prodig; Child psychology; Children; cognitive development; cross-cultural environmental psychology; Environmental education; Geography education; Human geography; Map skills; Mapping; mapping abilities of preschoolers; Navigation; Population geography and social geography; Preschool children; Toys; Cartography; Behaviour; Cognitive process; Aerial photography; Cultural studies; Children; Spatial representation
• ISSN: 0020-2754; 1475-5661
• DOI: 10.1111/j.0020-2754.1998.00269.x

The mapping abilities of four-year-old children in York, England, Durban, South Africa, Tehran, Iran, Mexico City, Mexico and Evanston, Illinois, USA were investigated, using a methodology involving air-photo identification and simulated navigation on an air photo. The results show that essential mapping abilities (perspective and scale transformations) are well developed by the age of four in these cultures, and provide some evidence in support of the hypothesis that mapping abilities emerge without training in very young children of all cultures.