Spatial Cognition XI

Sketch maps are often used as a means of assessing participants’ knowledge of spatial environments. However, the evaluation of sketch maps is challenging as they differ in many aspects and can be scored on many possible criteria. In particular, the classification of sketch maps into different types can be problematic, because participants rarely follow any of the identifiable formats consistently. This paper presents a set of criteria that can be used to score a sketch map on two dimensions simultaneously: its “route-likeness” and its “survey-likeness”. The scoring is based on the presence or absence of six features for route-conveying information and six features of conveying survey information. In the present study, reliability estimates and factor structure of the approach were examined with 460 sketch maps with a high variability of spatial elements included. Results show that the two dimensions are largely independent. Sketch maps are found that score high on the route dimensions but low on the survey dimension and vice versa, as well as sketch maps that score high (or low) on both dimensions. It is concluded that the proposed two-dimensional scoring is useful for analysing sketch maps, however, results will also depend on the task and instruction when assessing participants’ knowledge of spatial environments.