Geoforum, Vol. 11, pp. 385--397, 1980. Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain.

Children Represent their Environment: Mental Maps of Coventry City Centre

M.H. MATTHEWS*, Coventry, U.K.

The way in which children represent a familiar place by unstructured respondent cartography is examined. A sample of 11 to 18 year olds was asked to draw a free-hand sketch-map of the city centre, in which they lived. Age is shown to be important as a factor shaping and controlling the manner in which space is depicted. The maps of the youngest age group were limited in extent, weakly structured and often contained detail which corresponded to the child's particular contact with the environment. With time, knowledge of the urban form expands and the 17 to 18 year old was able to represent the city centre in a clearer more related style. Other factors are also recognized as important to the process of environmental cognition.
Abstract:

Studies o f environmental perception have attracted much attention in psychology and geography because they are viewed as an important basis for human spatial behaviour (DOWNS and STEA, 1973, 1977; GOULD and WHITE, 1974; MOORE and GOLLEDGE, 1976; POCOCK and HUDSON, 1978). An area o f growing importance is the study of those images of the picture of the world carried around in a person's head, or mental map. Mental maps are the essence o f environmental response. They represent the areal extent o f human information at a given time and provide the behavioural framework within which spatial knowledge is translated into action. These models of reality evolve over time in an individual's brain, and their development is multi-faceted. Researchers have shown the importance of such personal variables as sex (APPLEYARD, 1970), class

(RIESER, 1972; SPENCER, 1973, GOODCHILD, 1974), educational ability ( M c F A R L A N E - S M I T H , 1964; GOODEY et al., 1971), race and ethnicity (ORLEANS, 1967; LADD, 1970; M A U R E R and BAXTER, 1972), as well as external characteristics, like length of residence (POCOCK, 1976) and home location (KLEIN, 1967), as factors shaping and controlling the form and nature of these schemata. One factor which deserves more attention is the importance o f age, particularly in the formative years of childhood and adolescence. That a child's ability to b o t h comprehend and represent maps develops as he matures is an obvious but important conclusion. However, this is not a simple and straightforward process and as such provides an interesting subject for closer examination. Developmental psychologists such as W E R N E R (1957) and PIAGET (1967) have outlined the stages o f environmental cognition and geographical orientation and H A R T
J85

* Geography Department, Lanchester Polytechnic, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, England.

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and MOORE (1973) provide an useful overview into the child's changing perception of place. Few studies have focused upon the images of the environment elicited by the drawing of mental maps by children and how these representations change with growing maturity and widening experience. For the infant, until the age of 6 years, the limited amount of research which is available suggests that when portraying cognitive maps of a familiar environment children seldomly draw in plan-form and consistently misrepresent scale and fixed spatial relationships (DAVID, 1940; BIEL and TORELL, 1977; PARTRIDGE, 1978). Children of this age are at the beginnings of egocentric spatial understanding, able only to depict, in a pictorial form, a world originating with an object which they can closely relate to, such as home or their immediate neighbourhood (CATLING, 1979). The stage of objective spatial understanding spans the years from about 7 to 10. With it the child becomes able to structure some of the relationships of the space around him, but still finds it difficult to relate features to each other. Rarely earlier than 10 years of age the abstract spatial understanding stage is reached. Children's portrayal of the familiar becomes to resemble a map, with a growing awareness for the whole, an increasing ability to represent distributions and spatial locations and a keener attention for accuracy. This evidence indicates that children gradually acquire the skills needed to draw maps of familiar places and these have usually developed by the age of 11 years. The continued development of children's mapping ability through adolescence has not been widely studied. SPENCER and LLOYD (1974) in a study of Birmingham children of different age groups analyzed the mental maps of routes from home to school. MAURER and BAXTER (1972) examined the images of 7 and 14 year olds in Houston, Texas, of places, such as their homes and neighbourhoods, and of journeys, to their school and city. BANERJEE and LYNCH (1977) made a comparative study of the way small groups of adolescents use and value their spatial environments in low income, low resource

areas, in Argentina and Mexico. This paper attempts to evaluate the importance of age as a parameter upon the mental maps of schoolchildren in Coventry, between the ages of eleven and eighteen.

Research Design
Data Sources

A cross-sectional strategy was adopted, based upon the inference that the content and structure of images held by different age groups, at one point in time, provide some insight into the whole learning process. One form was chosen from each year of a large comprehensive school and the sample was sorted according to age. As each group was composed of mixed ability students, apart from the sixth form, it was presumed that any bias due to different intellectual ability was mitigated. The mental maps were produced by actual respondent cartography and were of the unstructured category, allowing a free recall on a blank sheet of paper. In this way it was hoped that interviewer interference was minimized and that the end product represented reality in the form most relevant to the participant. The respondents were presented with a plain sheet of A4 paper and all were asked the same question: "Please draw a map of the city centre of Coventry; indicate on the map any names of places, areas, buildings, streets, which come to mind". Data on sex, length of residence and frequency of visit were also collected. The children were assured that there was no right or wrong answer and that no assessment was involved. The time limit was set by the school's hour period, but most pupils had managed to finish their maps well within this time. A basic problem of interpretation of any study focusing upon age can be inferred from MOORE's (1974) research of adult mental maps. He noted that adults progress through similar stages of map development and portrayal as a child, in that with greater familiarity of place so their maps increase in

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sophistication, relatedness, complexity and abstraction. This means that the same individual is capable of producing maps at any of the three levels of spatial representation depending upon knowledge of the area. In order to ensure further standardization, in terms of respondent characteristics, and in an attempt to filter out such distorting influences, only those pupils who had lived in the city for more than 10 years were considered. This seemingly arbitrary decision is justified by the facts that it incorporates the total life experience of the youngest age group, and covers 86% of the sample. MURRAY and SPENCER (1979) have noted that geographical mobility may influence both the strength of mental imagery and basic graphic ability, in that groups with a high incidence of movement between locations respond positively towards their new environments by the rapid structuring and efficient imagining of such places. By choosing a population with a characteristic of at least 10 yr stability within an area then again this acts as some control upon this factor. Furthermore, as the children attended a neighbourhood based school, whose catchment consisted of a relatively homogeneous outer suburb, it was hoped that the influence of residential location would be the same for all respondents. Also, the routes to the city centre from the home neighbourhoods were channelled by two axial links so constraining entry points into the central area and therefore presenting the city's form in a common manner to the pupils (CARR and SCHISSLER, 1969).

this portion of the urban landscape, then what is considered relevant may differ between respondents, even though their knowledge of place is broader than that they portray. Subjects may even suppress information which they consider irrelevant to the task as they perceive it, but it was felt that it was important not to lead or prompt response in any way. A further source of variation is the confidence of individuals in terms of their map drawing ability. BOYLE (1979) noted a reluctance by women to participate in any cartographic exercize, in his study of Sunderland. However, CATLING (1978) has observed that me drawing of environmental representations can be viewed as a 'natural act' amongst children, and the simplicity of organization in this Coventry study perhaps encouraged the eager response amongst all age groups. Coventry is a good city for this form of analysis. There is a broad region in the middle of the urban form, bounded by the inner ring road, which constitutes a clear natural area to which the nomenclature 'city centre' readily applies (see Figure 1). This part of the city was considerably rebuilt, following extensive war damage, and is distinguished from other areas by its building style and by the functions that it offers. By choosing only one study area and focusing upon its imageability this research cannot assess what influence urban form itself, may have upon a child's imagery. In Houston, only one-third of the schoolchildren who managed to draw maps of their own neighbourhood were able to attempt any map of the city centre (MAURER and BAXTER, 1972). Consequently, further studies are needed to assess whether the city's physical structure has any influence both upon the child's perceptual impressions and ultimately, cartographic representation.

The Study Area

A fundamental problem in all studies of individual perception is the definition of the location to be examined. Whether it is the 'home area' (ORLEANS and SCHMIDT, 1972) or the 'central area' (KLEIN, 1967) which is being studied, the exact significance of the term is coloured by interpretation. In this study the city centre was distinguished and this part of the city will have its o w n connotation to each respondent. As each person is not guided as to what constitutes

Metbodology
In order to provide some comparison with other studies the methodology adopted in this project is not new, but its application to the mental maps of children provides and interesting basis for investigation. SAARINEN (1976)

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Cot Porks. Buitdings

Coventry 8, W.corwickshir~

ly Herbe Garden'

500 m

Figure I . The central area of Coventry.

has commented that there have been "few attempts to use Lynch map drawing techniques among people of different ages to see how the city image develops over time", although POCOCK (1975) has examined how different sub groups respond to the same urban stimuli in this way. LYNCH's (1960) seminal work on urban imagery was concerned with the apparent legibility or clarity of the city scape, or the ease with which its parts could be organized into a coherent whole. From his field studies he arrived at five elements which formed the structural bases of

mental images; paths, edges, districts, landmarks and nodes [1]. In order to measure the imageability of the cityscape he attempted to explore the 'public images' or the common mental pictures carried around by the local citizens. This study uses one of the methods utilized by LYNCH, the freehand sketch map, and attention is confined to the information contained within the map, classified according to Lynch's system, rather than upon the notion of legibility. What is sought in this investigation is a consensus viewpoint for each age group and so the spatial information on

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the maps has been generalized using a statistical and cartographic technique known as the standard deviational ellipse (RAINE, 1978). The cognitive maps were then compared using a variety of techniques designed to consider information and completeness, shape and form, style and accuracy. Wherever possible results have been tested by statistical procedures in order to evaluate the impact of age upon mental imagery and cartographic ability. Analysis of Results

Information and Completeness

The content of mental maps consists of those

features which the respondent has stored for some reason. They represent externalized interpretations of the environment, and as such, elements are recalled because they have functional, social or symbolic significance (POCOCK, 1979). All children of 14 years and above employed some form of spatial labelling on their maps, whilst nearly one-fifth of the youngest age group did not distinguish features semantically (Table 1). In particular street names became more evident in the upper age range, perhaps reflecting a closer and more conscious contact with the environment. LYNCH's classification of urban form provides another means of comparison. In all cases paths, nodes and landmarks were most commonly depicted (Table 2). There was

Table 1. Spatial labelling (%) Age groups Maps with no labelling 11--12 13 14 15 16 17-18 17 4 -Maps employing street names 7 8 12 14 53 74

First year Second year Third year Fourth year Fifth year Sixth year

N = 130

Table 2. Spatial elements (%) Age groups 11--12 13 14 15 16 17--18 Paths 16 2O 26 23 44 43 Landmarks 53 43 41 37 31 30 Nodes 21 25 24 26 18 19 Edges and Districts 10 12 9 14 7 8

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some indication that a wider array of features was portrayed as age increased. The maps of the 11 and 12 year olds largely focused upon individual buildings, whereas routes were weakly represented. Attention was often confined to detailed parts of the cityscape, insignificant to their elders. Shops were functionally differentiated in terms of the goods sold and a street chessboard, in the centre of the shopping precinct, was often indicated, reflecting the child's particular contact with space (see Figure 2). A police information desk, incorporating a children's lost and found office, was also clearly appreciated. This accords with other studies (BISHOP and FOULSHAM, 1973) which have noted the child's concern with the minute and incidental as compared to the adult world. All this evidence suggests the child's gradual acquisition of a more complete mental image of the environment over time, coupled with a changing appreciation of significant environmental stimuli.

speculated that this is a product of free movement together with a better understanding of space. In a recent study in Bristol (SMITH et al., 1979) there was seen to be a positive relationship between a child's awareness/ activity space, concerning the downtown shopping centre, and age. Although the technique used was a structured verbal assessment its results provide interesting comparison. Further, this investigation revealed that 80% of 8 and 9 year olds' trips to Broadmead were with at least one parent, but only 8% of 14 and 15 year olds were accompanied in this manner. Accordingly, as children become older parental influences are less important in shaping their contact with environments away from the home. In other words, the child's awareness space and activity space progresses from where it is almost entirely constrained by parental movement, to a stage where the child can exert his own preferences and patronize areas and shops to fulfill his own needs. The shape and orientation of the ellipses also convey some understanding of behaviour and the significance of places. As age increases the axes of the ellipses rotate towards a n o r t h - s o u t h alignment. This is perhaps indicative of a growing awareness of the route taken into the city centre, as the school's catchment was located in the northern suburbs and entry to the central area was channelled along two main roads. These results seem to support Klein's (1967) observation that respondents tend to 'pull' the city centre towards their home location. For those children aged fourteen and over there is an elliptical extension towards the eastern margins showing the influence of the recreational complex, as well as the bus station. This accords with the Bristol study, testifying to the importance of newly gained activity space, as well as demonstrating the close relationship between experience and perception. An interesting feature is revealed by the mean centre of gravity for each of the age groups' maps. Despite differences in the perceived extent of the city centre there is a large a m o u n t of agreement in terms of this pivotal

Sbape and Form

Two techniques were used to assess the extent of the city centre as perceived; the standard deviational ellipse [2] and the mean centre of gravity. Both are techniques for summarizing spatial data in the form of point patterns. All the data were transformed into point locations. Landmarks and nodes were already represented by specific locations, whereas for paths and districts the central part of the road or area was taken as the point. This was possible in terms of the paths as a network of small well-defined routes enmeshed the central area, with no road traversing the whole of the city centre (see Figure 1). The ellipses suggest a changing imagery of the city centre with age. The maps of the sixth former extend over a much wider area than those of the first year pupil. For the 11 and 12 year olds, Coventry's shopping precinct together with its famous cathedral, a prominent landmark, is perceived to be the city centre and this is perhaps a reflection of their constrained spatial experience. With time it is clear that a more complete impression of the central area is gained and it can be

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point (see Figure 3). This suggests that the shopping precinct and the nearby Cathedral with its neighbourhood forms a very definite and clear image in the minds of all respondents. This is the part of the city where all pupils are likely to have a strong contact because of shopping trips, whether escorted or not by parents. It would appear, that like GOULD's (1973)findings in Sweden, knowledge surfaces grow outward from the wellknown and develop unevenly over space as a mosaic of places become familiar and pieced together in the child's mind.

Map Style
APPLEYARD (1969) proposed a two-fold classification of map styles, each associated with four sub groups. He noted that respondents' maps consisted predominantly of either sequential elements, notably roads, or spatial elements, such as individual buildings, landmarks and districts. In sequential maps connectivity is dominant, with elements being strongly linked to each other, whereas in spatial maps features are characteristically scattered over the map, with relatedness rather than linkage being most apparent. Other studies have successfully utilized this typology providing useful comparisons (GOODCHILD, 1974; SPENCER and LLOYD, 1974; POCOCK, 1975, 1976). The highest incidence of spatial maps was found in the youngest age groups, whilst the older pupils were more inclined to use sequential styles (Table 3). In order to determine whether any significant relationship existed between age and the style of map employed a Kolmogorov-Smirnov two sample, one tailed test was carried out. The null hypothesis that there is no difference between the usage of map styles with age could not be rejected (x 2 = 1.55, critical value o f p at 0.05 = 5.991, df = 2). Clearly this skill is not just a function of age. Pocock (1976) noted similar results in his study of Durham where 60% of his respondents used sequential maps regardless of their age group. However, in the maps of the 11 and 12 year olds a strong sense of subjective experience was conveyed and they were less able to conceptualize their ideas.

Often this age group found generalization difficult and map features were drawn of unrelated size, perhaps emphasizing the importance of these forms to the individual respondent. WALKER (1978) noted a similar response in the maps of primary shool children of nine years of age. The older child is clearly able to draw proportionately correct presentations with closer attention to scale and orientation. Pictorial representation and simple diagrammatic portrayal of shops and buildings were largely confined to the youngest children (see Figure 2). Other studies (DAVID, 1940; COBB and STOLTMAN, 1974) have shown that children of ages 6 to 8 years widely employ pictorial symbols and that drawing in plan form is still a problem for 9 and 10 year olds. Patterns and connectivity were important features of the sixth formers' maps, and they were able to piece together their images more coherently by inferential structuring. Map styles can be further classified according to sophistication. APPLEYARD noted with sequential types a gradual improvement in quality ranging from fragments through to chains, branch and loop and to the more complex netted maps. A less clear gradation was evident with spatial types, but again a .progression existed which included scattered, mosaic, linked and patterned maps. In this study the highly developed styles were evident in all age groups, but constituted the highest percentage in those of the eldest respondents (Table 3). A x 2 test revealed that there was no significant difference between the sample of age groups and the levels of sophistication (x 2 = 3.19, critical value of p at 0.05 = 11.07, df= 5). These findings suggest that the relationship between age and the way in which environments are externalized is not a clear one. There is some indication that the mental maps of 11 and 12 year olds are different in both style and content to those of older children, lacking sophistication and schematically representing the world of the city centre, although the sample does not allow any definite conclusions to be drawn. Despite a

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Table 3. Map styles (%)

Age groups 11-12 13 14 15 16 17-18

Sequential 36 44 46 45 53 58

Spatial 64 56 54 55 47 42

Netted sequential 4 4 4 6 12 16

Patterned 7 4 12 13 12 11

spatial

relatively intimate knowledge of a restricted area they show less ability to convey in a related manner, the elements which make up the urban landscape. A similar point has been noted by RAND (1969) in his study of 9, 10 and 11 year old children in New York City. He found that trips and excursions led to places being remembered, but not thought of as connected with the same world as their immediate home environment. Consequently, a child may recall being in a place, but have no notion how the place relates spatially to any other.

Table 4. Good figure tendency (%)

Age groups 11--12 13 14 15 16 17--18

High 14 12 19 19 24 26

Some 29 38 43 67 58 58

None 57 50 38 13 18 16

Accuracy
Another aspect of mental maps which has been noted in a number of studies (APPLEYARD, 1970; POCOCK, 1973) is that of topological transformation, or the attempt to add order and clarity to what may be a haphazard reality. POCOCK has termed this process of betterment the tendency towards 'good figure'. The inclination is to portray the landscape in a simplified and logical manner. The extent of such modification can be assessed by noting the incidence of 'proximity, closure, symmetry, parallelism and rectilinearity'. The entire map was scanned and three good figure categories were used; high, some, none. In all age groups there were some maps which were classified as having good figure tendency (Table 4). The highest good figure percentages were recorded in the seventeen and eighteen age group and the lowest amongst 11 and 12 year olds. A statistically significant result was obtained for the relationship between age and the depiction of good figure, using a KolmogorovSmirnov, one sample, two-tailed test (x 2 = 6.9, critical value of p at 0.05 = 5.99, dr= 2). Whether it is age alone, which contributes to the employment of this organization it is difficult to assess. For example, this result would seem to accord with Pocock's findings of a positive and unambiguous relationship between good figure content and familiarity and acquaintance with the city. The form of the urban landscape may also encourage this tendency. In the youngest age group those maps which were classified as having good figure were largely of simple design, focusing upon a small central part of the shopping precinct with a regular appearance and layout.

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Conclusion SAARINEN (1976) comments "a major question is that of the ages and stages at which the various cognitive skills required to construct mental maps are developed". These findings contribute a further insight into the acquisition of spatial knowledge and a child's changing ability to represent space, particularly during adolescence. The relationship between age and the imagery of an urban landscape is complex. It is difficult to differentiate the impact of this factor from the others which influence an individual's schemata. Nevertheless, some tentative points can be suggested about the way in which children structure and organize environmental information. There appear to be very real differences between the ability of 11 and 12 year olds to cognize macro space environments and their upper school counterparts. Not only is their conception of place limited, but the way in which they depict reality is also at variance. The 11 and 12 year olds' view of the city centre is defined by the shopping precinct. Their maps are altogether more limited in extent to those of their elders. There is a concern for detail, suggesting a different appraisal of the importance of urban features and reflecting the younger child's particular contact with the environment. The maps show a weak sense of relatedness and of spatial wholeness, often with a scattered array of buildings loosely connected to paths. As a result their cartographic representations are commonly confused and distorted, with little appreciation of scale or orientation. As age increases and experience broadens, knowledge of the urban form expands. Consequently, the city centre is extended in area and the respondent becomes aware that all the parts are parts of a whole. He is able to co-ordinate relationships between the multi-faceted elements which make up this 'region', capable of extrapolating routes and paths and semantically distinguishing features in a relevant manner. With growing familiarity and a developing sense of place a tendency towards topological transformation or map betterment becomes apparent. This paper has not attempted to provide any

causal explanation for the differences between age groups. Such analysis needs to take note of experiments carried out by psychologists aimed at understanding how a gestalt view of reality is developed. The application of developmental theory to large-scale environments has already been adopted by several researchers (ACREDOLO, 1976; BECK and WOOD, 1976; KATES and KATZ, 1977). Another separate field of empirical research has been the quantitative acquisition of environmental information from various domains. ANDREWS (1973) has analyzed the amount of urban knowledge held by children of different age groups, whilst GOULD (1973) has measured the extent of spatial information of children in Sweden. Studies of activity spaces, such as that of JOHNSTON (1972) and SMITH e t al. (1979), are important to this understanding. BANERJEE and LYNCH (1977) have revealed how social conditions can produce a difference in the ways children use and value their environments. They point out that adolescents are undergoing the final phase of socialization before entry into adult society. In a few years they will begin to use and assess their environment in a different way, as the restrictions adults place on children weaken. The impact of such change upon environmental perception provides a fascinating topic for investigations which try to relate mental spatial construction to experience. In particular, a wider amount of data needs to be collected to evaluate whether processes of environmental imagery are the same between age groups in different places, or whether such factors as city form and socio-cultural variations influence cognitive externalization. Notes 1. Paths are channels along which people customarily, occasionally, or potentially move, for example, pavements, streets, motorways, or railroads, and from which they cognize the city. Nodes are the focal points into and out of which people move as they circulate within the city. Nodes may be street intersections or roundabouts, buildings that serve as destination or origin points, and even entire business districts.

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Land- are points of reference; that is, activity is marks not actually focused on them. They serve only to cue trip behaviour or to relate people to other elements in the landscape. Districts are areas or sections of the city that display a high degree of homogeneity. Common size, shape or age of buildings or common activity define them.

Edges (boundaries and barriers) are linear elements such as rivers, lake fronts or roads that bind a space, separate two areas, or serve as a barrier to movement. 2. The standard deviational ellipse belongs to a group of cartographic techniques which seek to measure the centres of distributions and their degree of dispersion. The procedure is explained in detail in Raine's (1978) paper. First, the mean centre of gravity of the distribution is calculated. Second, a co-ordinate system is then superimposed over the mean centre with the origin on this point. The deviation of each point from the Y axes is measured and plotted as a standard deviation along the X axes in both positive and negative directions. Third, the axes are then rotated at a convenient interval, in this case 10 , and the standard deviation calculated for every new rotation. This procedure allows the path of an ellipse to be traced. As some points were repeatedly recorded on the perception maps a weighting system was introduced which expressed the frequency response of each point.

BISHOP J. and FOULSHAM J. (1973) Children's images of Harwich. Hiking Pap., 3, Archit. Psychol. Res. Unit, Kingston Polytechnic. BOYLE M.J. (1979) Women's maps of Sunderland: some advantages and problems of sketch mapping methods. Occasional Paper, No. 4, Department of Geography, Portsmouth Polytechnic. CARR S. and SCHISSLER D. (1969) The city as a trip, Envir. Bebav. 1, 7 - 3 5 . CATLING S. (1978) Cognitive mapping and children, Bulletin of Environmental Education, No. 91. CATLING S. (1979) Maps and cognitive maps: the young child's perception, Geograpby 64 (4), 288-296. COBB R.L. and STOLTMAN J.P. (1974) Perspective ability and map conceptualisation in elementary school children. E.R.LC., document No. ED 086615. DAVID E. (1940) Children's maps an experiment, Geograpby 25, 8 6 - 8 9 . DOWNS R.M. and STEA D. (Eds.) (1973) Image and

Environment: Cognitive Mapping and Spatial Bebaviour. Aldine, Chicago. DOWNS R.M. and STEA D. (1977) Maps in Minds.
Harper & Row, London. GOODCHILD B. (1974) Class differences in environmental perception, Urban Stud. 11, 157-169. GOODEY B., DUFFET A.W., GOLD J.R. and SPENCER D. (1971) City scene, Res. Mem. 10, Cent. Urban Reg. Stud., Univ. of Birmingham. GOULD P.R. (1973) The black boxes of Jonk6ping: spatial information and preference, In: Image and Environment, pp. 234--245, Downs R.M. and Stea D. (Eds.). Aldine, Chicago. GOULD P.R. and WHITE R. (1974) MentalMaps. Penguin, Harmondsworth. HART R.A. and MOORE G.T. (1973) The development of spatial cognition: a review, In: Image and Environment, pp. 246--288, Downs R.M. and Stea D. (Eds.). Aldine, Chicago. JOHNSTON R.J. (1972) Activity spaces and residential preferences: some tests of the hypotheses of sectoral mental maps. Economic geography, 48, pp. 1 9 9 - 2 1 1 . KATES R.W. and KATZ C. (1977) The hydrological cycle and the wisdom of the child, Geogr. Rev. 67, 51--62. KLEIN H.J. (1967) The delimitation of the town centre in the image of its citizens, In: Urban Core and Inner City, pp. 2 8 6 - 3 4 5 , Brill E.J. (Ed.). University of Leiden. LADD F.C. (1972) Black youths view their environment: some views on housing, J. Am. Inst. Plann. 38, 108--117. LYNCH K. (1960) Tbe Image of tbe City. M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass. MAURER R. and BAXTER J.C. (1972) Images of the neighbourhood and city among black-, Anglo- and Mexican- American children, Envir. Bebav. 4, 351-388. McFARLANE--SMITH I. (1964)Spatial ability: its educational and social significance. London.

References
ACREDOLO L.P. (1976), Frames of reference used by children for orientation in unfamiliar spaces, In: Environmental Knowing pp. 165--172, Moore G.T. and Golledge R.G. (Eds.). Dowden, Huchinson & Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. ANDREWS H.F. (1973) Home range and urban knowledge of school-age children, Envir. Bebav. 5, 73--86. APPLEYARD D. (1970) Styles and methods of structuring a city, Envir. Bebav. 2, 1 0 0 - 1 1 7 . BANERJEE T. and LYNCH K. (1977) On people and places: a comprehensive study of the spatial environment of adolescence. Tn Plann. Rev. 48, 105--115. BECK R. and WOOD D. (1976) Comparative developmental analysis of individual and aggregated cognitive maps of London, In: Environmental Knowing pp. 173--184, Moore G.T. and Golledge R.G. (Eds.). Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. BIEL A. and TORELL G. (1977) The mapped environment. Gfteborg Psychological Report, 7, No. 7.

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