Doesn't the Structure of the Geographic Environment of the Urban Areas Matter? A Critical Review of the Literature on Spatial Cognition in People with Disorders

Document Type : review

Authors

1 Department of Remote Sensing and GIS, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Remote Sensing and GIS, Faculty of Planning and Environmental Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

3 Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jurbangeo.2025.387764.2025

Abstract

Extended Abstract
Introduction
Over the past few decades, cognitive science research has become interested in studying spatial cognition (SC) in people with disorders (PWD). SC is a part of environmental cognition and represents the environment in the mind. This representation is a mental model of the geographical environment (GE), which Tolman called a cognitive map (CM). The formation of CM depends on the interaction between personal abilities and the structure of GE. Due to their physical or mental disorders, PWDs do not have efficient access to the environmental data. This limits their spatial abilities. Regarding this, numerous studies have been carried out to address the SC issues in PWDs; however, they associate SC issues with physical or mental disorders and make an effort to solve the issues by putting rehabilitation strategies into practice. Despite the human organism performance significantly influencing the SC, the GE, as the data source, is also crucial in forming the CM. The physical aspects of urban environments form the basis of the GE. Many theoretical models consider GE the forerunner of SC and assert that a well-structured GE enhances the SC. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to critically review the current evidence on the SC in PWDs, provide a general overview of the state of the art and the approaches in the literature, and highlight the significance of GE in this area for future study.
 
Methodology
We did not confine our research to a specific group of PDWs. Reviewing their procedures and outcomes is also not our goal. In this regard, two groups of keywords, those associated with SC and those associated with PWDs, were combined one by one. The Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, MDPI, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases were searched for relevant literature. A preliminary examination of the titles and abstracts resulted in selecting 182 papers for closer examination. Seventy-nine papers that satisfied our criteria were left after a full text review. Due to the purpose of this review, studies on math, indoor environments, older individuals, people who have lost their memory, animals, route planning and optimization, studies for identifying motion barriers, studies of the causes of SC in PWDs, studies into the differences between age and gender, studies into the necessity of SC for PWDs, studies into SC ontology in PWDs, and review articles were all filtered out. The category, full identification data, target population, objective, approach, and test environment were extracted for each selected article.
 
Results and discussion
Based on their objectives, the articles were categorized into six categories. The results showed that 51.9% of the studies aimed to investigate the abilities and strategies of PWDs in SC. The 19% was addressed for developing and evaluating aid tools to enhance PWDs' SC. About 9% of studies examined the neural mechanisms involved in the SC of PWDs. 7.6% have studied the SC in the context of developing computer programs, and 7.6% have evaluated the role of input channels in the SC in PWDs. Finally, 5.1% studied how education and rehabilitation can help PWDs' SC. Blind and visually impaired people (59.3%) and people with autism (17.3%) were the main subjects of the studies. Therefore, there is a great need for research into SC in other physically and especially mentally impaired people, such as deaf, hearing-impaired, and dumb people, those with physical-motor or mental disorders. The findings of our review showed that there are three main approaches toward the SC in PWDs in the existing literature. The first is the psychological-neurological approach, which accounts for a sizable portion (46.7%) of this field's research. This is an old approach toward the SC in PWDs, and its purpose is to identify the impact of different physical or mental impairments on spatial abilities, skills, strategies, and knowledge. The approach of some articles (29.1%) is the technological approach. This approach aims to improve the SC in PWDs by developing tools, computer programs, and systems so that they can independently carry out their daily tasks. The physiological approach is the third main approach in the studies of SC in PWDs. It has a smaller share of the literature than the other two approaches (21.5%) and is also less old. According to researchers who support this approach, the main cause of the SC impairments in PWDs is a functional defect in the human body.
However, one of the approaches that has not received attention is the geographical approach. Psychological researchers are not interested in investigating the geographical aspects of the SC in PWDs. They attribute the SC impairments to the defects in PWDs and believe that PWDs should improve their spatial abilities to adapt to the structure of the existing GE. On the other hand, geographers are less interested in research in this area, and their studies are limited to route planning and optimization. In general, the direction of research in SC in PWDs is influenced by the attitude toward them. The studies attempt to treat PWDs using rehabilitation interventions, adopting the medical model.  Therefore, there is a large research space for future studies for geographers and urban planning researchers.
 
Conclusion

i) The studies have six major objectives, including 1) Investigation of the abilities and strategies, 2) Aid tools development and evaluation, 3) Neural mechanisms related to the SC, 4) Computer program development, 5) Investigating the role of input changes in the SC, and 6) Education and rehabilitation intervention.
ii) The studies take three main approaches toward the spatial cognition of people with disabilities, including 1) The psychological-neurological approach, 2) The technological approach, and 3) The physiological approach.

iii) The interaction between the human organism and the geographical environment is the basis for the acquisition of spatial cognition. However, studies ignore the effects of the structure of the geographical environment and attribute the spatial cognition disorder of people with disabilities to the human organism.

iv) Given that studies that take a geographical approach to the issue of spatial cognition in people with disorders do not exist, no research has been conducted to date to evaluate the main geographical elements and factors that affect spatial cognition in people with various disorders and the type of impact these elements have. Accordingly, the geographical elements of the urban environment that can enhance and improve spatial cognition in these people are unknown.

 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Author Contribution
Hamed. Ahmadi: Conceptualization, Writing - original draft, Formal analysis, Visualization, Methodology.
Mesyam. Argany: Conceptualization, Project administration, Writing - review & editing.
Abolfazl. Ghanbari: Review & editing.
Manijeh. Firrozi: Review & editing.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgment
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper
ABSTRACT
One of the most important aspects of daily life is spatial cognition. However, physical or mental disorders affect spatial cognition. In this regard, a critical review of the literature on spatial cognition in people with disorders was conducted. This review aims to provide a general overview of the current approaches toward the spatial cognition of people with disorders and highlight the neglect of the geographical environment's critical role in this field. We did not restrict our review to a particular group of people with disorders or a particular area of research or objective. After screening, 79 papers remained. The results showed that the articles have six main objectives, of which investigation of abilities and strategies (51.9%), aid tool development and evaluation (19%), and examination of the effect of neural mechanisms related to the SC (8.9%) have the largest share. Additionally, the studies have three approaches, including psychological-neurological (46.8%), technological (29.1%), and physiological (21.5%). 2.6% of studies also have an educational approach to this field. We concluded that the geographical environment is underappreciated in the existing literature on spatial cognition in people with disorders, although it plays a significant role in spatial cognition, and spatial cognition disorders are attributed to the human organism. The findings of this review are beneficial for researchers in the geographic sciences, especially urban planning, who are interested in conducting their research in the field of spatial cognition in people with disorders and their relationship with the structure of the urban geographical environment.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Over the past few decades, cognitive science research has become interested in studying spatial cognition (SC) in people with disorders (PWD). SC is a part of environmental cognition and represents the environment in the mind. This representation is a mental model of the geographical environment (GE), which Tolman called a cognitive map (CM). The formation of CM depends on the interaction between personal abilities and the structure of GE. Due to their physical or mental disorders, PWDs do not have efficient access to the environmental data. This limits their spatial abilities. Regarding this, numerous studies have been carried out to address the SC issues in PWDs; however, they associate SC issues with physical or mental disorders and make an effort to solve the issues by putting rehabilitation strategies into practice. Despite the human organism performance significantly influencing the SC, the GE, as the data source, is also crucial in forming the CM. The physical aspects of urban environments form the basis of the GE. Many theoretical models consider GE the forerunner of SC and assert that a well-structured GE enhances the SC. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to critically review the current evidence on the SC in PWDs, provide a general overview of the state of the art and the approaches in the literature, and highlight the significance of GE in this area for future study.
 
Methodology
We did not confine our research to a specific group of PDWs. Reviewing their procedures and outcomes is also not our goal. In this regard, two groups of keywords, those associated with SC and those associated with PWDs, were combined one by one. The Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, MDPI, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases were searched for relevant literature. A preliminary examination of the titles and abstracts resulted in selecting 182 papers for closer examination. Seventy-nine papers that satisfied our criteria were left after a full text review. Due to the purpose of this review, studies on math, indoor environments, older individuals, people who have lost their memory, animals, route planning and optimization, studies for identifying motion barriers, studies of the causes of SC in PWDs, studies into the differences between age and gender, studies into the necessity of SC for PWDs, studies into SC ontology in PWDs, and review articles were all filtered out. The category, full identification data, target population, objective, approach, and test environment were extracted for each selected article.
 
Results and discussion
Based on their objectives, the articles were categorized into six categories. The results showed that 51.9% of the studies aimed to investigate the abilities and strategies of PWDs in SC. The 19% was addressed for developing and evaluating aid tools to enhance PWDs' SC. About 9% of studies examined the neural mechanisms involved in the SC of PWDs. 7.6% have studied the SC in the context of developing computer programs, and 7.6% have evaluated the role of input channels in the SC in PWDs. Finally, 5.1% studied how education and rehabilitation can help PWDs' SC. Blind and visually impaired people (59.3%) and people with autism (17.3%) were the main subjects of the studies. Therefore, there is a great need for research into SC in other physically and especially mentally impaired people, such as deaf, hearing-impaired, and dumb people, those with physical-motor or mental disorders. The findings of our review showed that there are three main approaches toward the SC in PWDs in the existing literature. The first is the psychological-neurological approach, which accounts for a sizable portion (46.7%) of this field's research. This is an old approach toward the SC in PWDs, and its purpose is to identify the impact of different physical or mental impairments on spatial abilities, skills, strategies, and knowledge. The approach of some articles (29.1%) is the technological approach. This approach aims to improve the SC in PWDs by developing tools, computer programs, and systems so that they can independently carry out their daily tasks. The physiological approach is the third main approach in the studies of SC in PWDs. It has a smaller share of the literature than the other two approaches (21.5%) and is also less old. According to researchers who support this approach, the main cause of the SC impairments in PWDs is a functional defect in the human body.
However, one of the approaches that has not received attention is the geographical approach. Psychological researchers are not interested in investigating the geographical aspects of the SC in PWDs. They attribute the SC impairments to the defects in PWDs and believe that PWDs should improve their spatial abilities to adapt to the structure of the existing GE. On the other hand, geographers are less interested in research in this area, and their studies are limited to route planning and optimization. In general, the direction of research in SC in PWDs is influenced by the attitude toward them. The studies attempt to treat PWDs using rehabilitation interventions, adopting the medical model.  Therefore, there is a large research space for future studies for geographers and urban planning researchers.
 
Conclusion

i) The studies have six major objectives, including 1) Investigation of the abilities and strategies, 2) Aid tools development and evaluation, 3) Neural mechanisms related to the SC, 4) Computer program development, 5) Investigating the role of input changes in the SC, and 6) Education and rehabilitation intervention.
ii) The studies take three main approaches toward the spatial cognition of people with disabilities, including 1) The psychological-neurological approach, 2) The technological approach, and 3) The physiological approach.

iii) The interaction between the human organism and the geographical environment is the basis for the acquisition of spatial cognition. However, studies ignore the effects of the structure of the geographical environment and attribute the spatial cognition disorder of people with disabilities to the human organism.

iv) Given that studies that take a geographical approach to the issue of spatial cognition in people with disorders do not exist, no research has been conducted to date to evaluate the main geographical elements and factors that affect spatial cognition in people with various disorders and the type of impact these elements have. Accordingly, the geographical elements of the urban environment that can enhance and improve spatial cognition in these people are unknown.

 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Author Contribution
Hamed. Ahmadi: Conceptualization, Writing - original draft, Formal analysis, Visualization, Methodology.
Mesyam. Argany: Conceptualization, Project administration, Writing - review & editing.
Abolfazl. Ghanbari: Review & editing.
Manijeh. Firrozi: Review & editing.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgment
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper

Keywords

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Geographical Urban Planning Research (GUPR)
Volume 13, Issue 2
June 2025
Pages 37-55

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