The present invention relates to a method for transmitting pilot signals in a downlink multiple-input multi-output (MIMO) system which supports a first user equipment (UE) for supporting an N number of transmitter antennas from among a total M number of transmitter antennas, and a second UE for supporting said M (wherein, M>N) number of transmitter antennas. The method comprises the steps of: enabling a base station to map pilot symbols in a resource block (RB) on a subframe for transmitting user-specific pilot symbols which can be recognized only by the second UE; and enabling the base station to transmit the subframe in which the pilot symbols are mapped. The cell-specific pilot symbols for transmitter antenna port 0 to N−1, which can be recognized by both the first UE and the second UE, and the user specific pilot symbols for transmitter antenna ports N to M−1, which can be recognized only by the second UE, are mapped in the allocated resource block.