How do we locate ourselves on a map: a method for analyzing self-location processes

The activity of self-location can be described as the making of a connection between the spatial relationships perceived from the subject's position (egocentric frame of reference) and all the external spatial relationships which contain this position (geocentric frame of reference: a map for example). We propose a method for analyzing the cognitive processes involved in a self-location task where the subjects had to match 2 spatial frames of reference. The processing methods observed by measuring various parameters used to evaluate the spatial relationships showed that the subjects (adults) could use a wide range of spatial tools - which were often equivalent and thus redundant - to locate themselves on a map, and that they drew upon this spatial repertory according to their requirements.