Preschool children's ability to visually represent relations.
The developmental origins of mapping temporal relations onto space was investigated in N = 122 3- to 5-year-old children and adults. Spontaneous production and comprehension were investigated. Production was investigated in two conditions: an iconic condition (three-dimensional objects depicting the events or objects to be represented) and an abstract condition (plain discs). Consistent with findings by Tversky, Kugelmass and Winter (1991), 5-year-olds performed on an adult-like level. Developmental progress was observed between the ages of 3 and 4 years, with comprehension preceding production. Consistent with DeLoache's findings (2000), 4-year-olds' performance was better in abstract than in iconic conditions, indicating that dual representational demands may have affected task performance in the iconic condition. In sum, abilities to map temporal relations onto spatial relations appear to develop spontaneously, even before children have experience with conventional notational systems.
Koerber
Susanne
S
Department of Psychology, University of Munich, Germany. koerber@edupsy.uni-muenchen.de
Sodian
Beate
B
D000328:Adult; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D032882:Comprehension; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D013028:Space Perception; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis