  We introduce cognitive-affective maps (CAMs) as a novel tool to assess
individual experiences and belief systems. CAMs were first presented by the
cognitive scientist and philosopher Paul Thagard as a graphical representation
of a mental network, visualizing attitudes, thoughts, and affective
connotations toward the topic of interest. While CAMs were originally used
primarily to visualize existing data, the recent release of the new software
tool Valence has facilitated the applicability of CAMs for empirical data
collection. In this article, we explain the concept and the theoretical
background of CAMs. We exemplify how CAMs can be applied in research practice,
including different options for analysis. We propose CAMs as a user-friendly
and versatile methodological bridge between qualitative and quantitative
research approaches and encourage incorporating the method into studies to
access and visualize human attitudes and experience.
