Cognitive maps: what are they and how to use them to learn or educate?

This type of tools are very useful to guide learning and memorization processes.

Learning, or the acquisition and assimilation of information or knowledge, is not something that occurs randomly, but rather people require study and repetition through exercises or experiences in order to achieve the assimilation of any subject or concept.

However, there are a series of learning techniques that can facilitate this task, one of these techniques consists of using the so-called cognitive maps.. These cognitive maps are an excellent way to illustrate and capture a series of ideas or knowledge so that the person can absorb and incorporate any type of information to their cognitive schemes.

What are cognitive maps?

A cognitive map is a strategic tool that enables the assimilation and retention of any type of information through the through the graphic representation of ideas and concepts. This representation is expressed through the use of sketches, diagrams or diagrams.

The denomination of this technique by the word "map" has a metaphorical meaning, since it is used as a kind of geographical map through which the person can join different concepts.

These cognitive maps are established in different ways depending on the collection, filtering and evaluation procedures. procedures for collecting, filtering and evaluating information. the person performs. In addition, they are also generated according to the information load that the person gathers from the context in which he/she finds him/herself.

Another of their advantages is that they are moldable, and susceptible to change over time as the subject adds information. As well as persistent and resistant to forgetting, as long as the person does not stop interacting with that context.

Main characteristics

Besides being an extremely useful tool for learning in any of the areas or subjects in which the subject may be involved, cognitive maps have a number of characteristics of their own:

• They are beneficial for the systematization of any academic content, inside and outside the school.
• They can be of help to both the pedagogue and the student and for the student when focusing learning on specific subjects.
• They are effective in the construction of very concise or concrete meanings.
• They give the person the possibility to compare, differentiate, order, group and organize a large amount of information. a large amount of information.

Functionality of these resources

Given the relevance and advantages of cognitive maps, they can be extremely useful for four aspects of the teaching-learning process:

1. Meaning learning

As they constitute a graphic representation of how the learner's cognitive structure is ordered, they are a basic strategy to increase and improve memory management and recall. increasing and improving memory management and meaning recall, to synthesize concepts, and to synthesize concepts and remember meanings.It is a basic strategy to synthesize concepts and simplify self-evaluation.

2. Pedagogical strategy

The teacher or educator can use them as a method to organize and plan subjects or to method to organize and plan the subjects or topics of the academic curriculum..

3. Evaluation method

It can be of great use when comparing, evaluating and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the evaluation processes used by the teaching staff.

4. Didactic resource

Cognitive mapping is an excellent technique for organize the information or material that the learner must learn or assimilate..

Given the number of functions and advantages that cognitive maps can have, they should be seen as something more than a mere tool in the form of an outline used by the student to organize information, making known to both students and teachers the many virtues and qualities that they can have in the field of learning.

Structure

Like a map or learning scheme, internal maps have a concrete structure that facilitates the assimilation of information. This structure is divided into two: the external structure and the internal structure..

External structure

The external structure of cognitive maps is the one that encompasses its fundamental elements. These are:

• Conceptsare more similar to images and need not be identical in all persons, since each subject grasps the sense or meanings of the concepts in one way or another.
• PropositionsThey constitute the union of several concepts by means of linking locutions, thus establishing a semantic unity.
• Linking locutionsare placed adjacent to the linking lines in order to explain or specify the meaning of what is being expressed.
• Linking lines: lines that function as a link between propositions.

As far as the internal structure is concerned, this is what makes the cognitive map such an effective cognitive tool. This internal structure includes:

• HierarchyThe concepts must be ordered according to their degree of relevance or inclusiveness. The more inclusive a concept is or the more information it contains, the higher it should be ranked within the structure.
• SectionsIt should be organized in different sections containing the most relevant information on a subject.
• Visual clarityThe structure should be visual and clear, highlighting the most important concepts or propositions of the subject.

Types of cognitive maps

There are numerous pre-established variants of cognitive maps. The most popular ones are described below.

Cognitive map of the sun type

The sun type cognitive map is a schematic with a sun-like figure, which has a main topic at the center of the map. has a main theme in the center and from which the concepts or ideas that are related to that theme are placed.

The main function of this type of map is to introduce and organize a concept or theme, together with its main characteristics or descriptions.

Cognitive cloud map

It is a diagram made up of figures in the form of clouds, within which the information is arranged. As in the sun type map, the starting point is a main idea or theme, from which the sub-themes that appear around it originate. originate the sub-themes that appear around it..

It is a technique for organizing and internalizing the characteristics of a specific topic.

Cognitive map of cycles

It is a type of sketch in which the information is recorded in order according to a chronological or chronological arrangement. according to a chronological or sequential arrangement.The beginning of the series should be noted in the form of a continuous series by means of circles or arrows.

The beginning of the series should be noted in the upper circle, while in the rest of the circles the following stages are recorded.

It is a very useful diagram to symbolize temporal information or in the form of a circuit.

Cognitive map of common aspects

In this type of diagram, two different sections united by a common area are established. It is a very interesting technique if what is desired is to detect common principles, rationale or ideas between two topics.

Cognitive map of bad water

The configuration of this scheme seems to simulate the structure of a jellyfish, noting in the upper area the title of the subject or idea, followed by a series of boxes with the subtopics or divisions of ideas. Finally, the characteristics or principles of each subtopic are noted in the form of vertical lines..

The use of this type of cognitive map is to organize the contents according to their topics, subtopics and main ideas derived from them.