The ability to understand relative position of places, distances and directions is—

The correct answer is mapping skill.

Explanation:

Mapping skills refer to the cognitive ability to represent, understand, and interpret spatial relationships. This includes understanding the relative positions of different places, calculating or estimating distances, and determining directions on maps or in physical space.

Let's look at the options:

1. Mapping skill: It involves spatial thinking and reading or drawing maps, which specifically requires understanding relative positions, directions, and scales of distances.

2. Directional skill: While it involves understanding directions (e.g., North, South, East, West), it is only one component of spatial understanding and does not encompass spatial relationships of relative positions and distance fully like mapping skill does.

3. Positional skill: Refers broadly to identifying location/position, but is not the standard term used for spatial understanding of geography and maps.

4. Graphic skill: Relates to drawing, reading visual charts, or interpreting visual graphic representations, which is a visual-artistic or communicative skill rather than a spatial-geographic one.