Mental Maps

http://go.owu.edu/~jbkrygie/krygier_html/geog_222/geog_222_lo/geog_222_lo13.html

This map isn't very large, but for most people this image is instantly identifiable. A Thai student has drawn this map from memory, and while it has very little detail, it would still be very useful to someone unfamiliar with the layout of our continents. All maps are essentially tools designed to make visualization of something on a grand scale more accessible. A "birds eye view" of the landscape was not possible until very recently in history, especially photographic reproduction. Before these technological marvels, it was not as important to have an exactly precise or accurate map as much as it was important to have a map that the user could understand and familiarize with. Mental maps can be some of the most basic maps, but a simple map is no less useful than a complex one.