Development of intuitions about support beyond infancy.
In a series of 3 experiments modeled after infant studies, 3- to- 6-year-old children's intuitive knowledge about support was assessed. Different objects were shown either sufficiently supported or not. Children had to predict whether a block would remain standing on a platform upon release or make perceptual judgments about the possibility of a shown block-on-platform configuration. Overall, performance was strongly age-related and independent of task context. Sensitivity for the amount of contact between object and support was clearly evidenced for each of the age-groups tested and was almost perfect in 5- and 6-year-olds. By contrast, sensitivity for the proportion of an object's volume positioned over the support was only marginally reliable in 3-year-olds and still far from perfect in 6-year-olds. It is concluded that basic intuitions about support undergo distinct developmental change beyond infancy and are not yet fully developed in kindergartners.
Krist
Horst
H
Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany. krist@uni-greifswald.de
D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019545:Intuition / Q000502:physiology*; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011582:Psychological Theory