Back to Search
Start Over
Young children's use of features to reorient is more than just associative: further evidence against a modular view of spatial processing.
- Source :
-
Developmental science [Dev Sci] 2010 Jan 01; Vol. 13 (1), pp. 213-20. - Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- Proponents of a geometric module have argued that instances of young children's use of features as well as geometry to reorient can be explained by a two-stage process. In this model, only the first stage is a true reorientation, accomplished by using geometric information alone; features are considered in a second stage using association (Lee, Shusterman & Spelke, 2006). This account is contradicted by the data from two experiments. Experiment 1a sets the stage for Experiment 1b by showing that young children use geometric information to reorient in a complex geometric figure without a single principal axis of symmetry (an octagon). In such a figure, there are two sets of geometrically congruent corners, with four corners in each set. The addition of a colored wall leads to the existence of three geometrically congruent but, crucially, all unmarked corners; using the colored wall to distinguish among them could not be done associatively. In Experiment 1b, both 3- and 5-year-old children showed true non-associative reorientation using features by performing at above-chance levels on all-white trials. Experiment 2 used a paradigm without distinctive geometry, modeled on Lee et al. (2006), involving an equilateral triangle of hiding places located within a circular enclosure, but with a large stable feature rather than a small moveable one. Four-year-olds (the age group studied by Lee et al.) used features at above-chance levels. Thus, features can be used to reorient, in a way not dependent on association, in contradiction to the two-stage version of the modular view.
- Subjects :
- Age Factors
Attention physiology
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Male
Models, Psychological
Neuropsychological Tests
Photic Stimulation methods
Reaction Time physiology
Recognition, Psychology physiology
Association Learning physiology
Child Development physiology
Orientation physiology
Space Perception physiology
Spatial Behavior physiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1467-7687
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Developmental science
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 20121877
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00877.x