Evaluation of students' cognitive maps from an urban perspective as a mental image output

Aims :

Mental images are formed by direct and indirect experiences of space, which refer to the complex acquisition, processing, and interpretation of information in the human mind. Like internal representation, it acts as a cognitive map due to the surrounding space, which directs both the relationships and actions of humans in the space. In this regard, the current research emphasizes identifying the crucial components in forming students' mental images of urban landscape.

Current research uses quantitative methods as well as graphic questionnaires. The statistical population included students in the 1st semester of urban planning, 25 girls and 25 boys, in 2022. The research model was extracted due to theoretical studies to collect data from mental images. The obtained data will be analyzed based on Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Correlational study via Smart PLS and IBM SPSS 25.0. 

According to Confirmatory Factor Analysis, according to the students, "physical structure" with an impact factor (0.930) whose components with factor load include: "geometry" (0.681), "direction and axis" (0.639), "differentiation and similarity" (0.596), "simplicity and diversity" (0.587), "scale and proportion" (0.499) and "visual range sequence" (0.425) are the most determining factors. In the second place, "functional structure" with an impact factor (0.733) And it ranks second with the components of "human activity" (0.815) and "functional species" (0.672). The "sense of time" factor has an impact factor (-0.084) with the components of "historical buildings" (1.000). Based on the correlation results, no significant difference was seen in the gender factor.

Urban landscape are formed more by a mixture of functional, physical structures, which have an immediate effect on the imitability of the town. Moreover, physical structures have the most influential role in this process. Additionally, it is revealed that gender factors did not affect this issue.