Using a computerized data collection method to explore sketch map drawing sequence

Cognitive mapping has attracted immense interest from many fields, creating collaborative and cross-disciplinary research. The study of cognitive maps enjoyed almost two decades of growth, until its decline in the early 1980s. By the 1990s, the new cross-disciplinary exchange with computer science and information technology has renewed interest in the field, which may be the next wave of cognitive mapping research explosion. This study will, through the development of an innovative tool and an in depth analysis of cognitive maps, namely, sequence, search for links between sequence and other variables, namely sketch map type classification, sketch map drawing processes and differences between female and male sketch maps.;The methodological tool, namely MMAPIT, was a different approach from past studies to collect sketch maps. MMAPIT was a combination of hardware (Tablet PC) and software that allowed subjects to draw their sketch map directly on the tablet and recorded the drawing process in audio and video format. The drawing process was transcribed producing the sequence or order each element was drawn. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).