Cognitive maps are flexible, dynamic, (re)constructed representations

Spatial navigation is the ability to purposefully move from one location to another. Central to many theories of navigation is the proposal that we build a ‘cognitive map’ of our external environment. We identify three conceptions of cognitive maps, with a modal view that these maps are mental representations coding for the spatial relations between locations and landmarks in a coherent, long-term, stable manner. Reviewing the literature, we show that many navigation behaviours thought to require a coherent cognitive map can be supported by the interaction of specific navigation strategies with minimal, fragmentary knowledge of the environment. Further, we argue that the range of navigation behaviours, strategies, individual differences, and navigational aids and systems used during navigation point toward representations that are more flexible than the conception of a coherent cognitive map allows. We propose that navigation should be studied as a situated and embodied process where representations are (re)constructed dynamically. The form and complexity of these constructed representations are tightly connected to the dynamic interaction between the navigator, including the strategies and aids they are using, and the environment. We link this proposal to the literature on spatially tuned neurons in the medial temporal lobes, emphasising that the heterogeneity of these functional neurons and their adaptation to changes in environmental structure and navigational goals supports our proposal that cognitive maps are dynamically (re)constructed representations. Therefore, cognitive maps are not relatively coherent, stable representations of spatial environments, but instead are dynamically and flexibly (re)constructed representations of the given navigational moment.