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The wayfinding feature highly contributed to the rise of cartographic platforms. However, no study really focused on the way these tools are both used and perceived in a wayfinding context. The qualitative investigation we conducted on 30 users of such platforms suggests that the related uses depend on – at least – two mental models: the first one assumes that the cartographic platform is a digital extension of paper maps, while the other one likens it to a GPS system.

Bidimensional regression is a statistical method used to compare two surfaces. It is based on the adjustment of the positions of two clouds of homologous points structuring the two surfaces to compare. The results of the bidimensional regression only concern the clouds of points in question. The article presents a method to extend the results to polygons, especially in a mapping context. For this purpose, it complements the bidimensional regression by two successive interpolations. To illustrate its possibilities, the method is applied to the mapping of cognitive representations of forest fragments in Thiérache (France).

Every day, each of us uses his own cognitive representations of space. Cognitive localizations are an aspect of this knowledge. The averages over chained lists of points (ACLP) method is presented in this paper as a solution to summarize several of these individual cognitive localizations into a single geographic coordinate system. The proposed method allows to collect and process information using places, understood as the basic component of individual cognitive representations of space. ACLP method is adapted to the context of work with geographic information systems (GIS) and applied to welfare.

In order to clearly understand the cognitive representations of the urban space, this paper presents an approach in three steps: identification, which highlights the importance of a place; its location more or less exact which indicates the level of the individuals’spatial knowledge, and the description which specifies the significant attributes of these places for the interviewed individuals. In order to obtain comparable maps, a precise protocol is proposed for each step.

Afin d´adapter les aménagements urbains aux besoins des citadins, de mettre en adéquation les décisions politiques concernant les villes et les pratiques des usagers, il est indispensable de connaître ce qui explique leur vécu quotidien, ce qui induit leurs actions. Pour ce faire, après avoir précisé le vocabulaire concernant les différents espaces intra-urbains pris en compte et rappelé les théories partiellement contradictoires explicitant la formation de la cognition et des représentations cognitives, l´auteur souligne l´importance d´approches strictes, comparatives et reproductibles pour atteindre des résultats fiables et utilisables opérationnellement. C´est pourquoi, il est nécessaire de connaître les éléments des espaces intra-urbains à relever et les techniques d´enquêtes permettant d´obtenir les représentations internes qui "sont en nous", techniques variables selon que l´on s´intéresse à l´identification, à la localisation ou à la description des éléments spatiaux, opérations distinctes mais complémentaires. La jonction entre les théories, les hypothèses associées et les techniques retenues conduit à mettre au point des démarches méthodologiques différentes mais transparentes qui autorisent alors les comparaisons entre travaux et permettent d´aboutir à des généralisations significatives.