People can find their way around places they've never been to by inferring spatial relationships.
Concept of cognitive maps was introduced by Tolman . Tolman studied animals and the acquisition of spatial knowledge. Even though the path that the rats had learned to use was blocked and could not be used, rats were able to choose an alternate route that led them in the same general direction. This finding suggests that rats had formed cognitive maps. In other words, the rats must have acquired some form of survey knowledge as compared to just learning a route.