title: A modular geometric mechanism for reorientation in children.
abstract: Although disoriented young children reorient themselves in relation to the shape of the surrounding surface layout, cognitive accounts of this ability vary. The present paper tests three theories of reorientation: a snapshot theory based on visual image-matching computations, an adaptive combination theory proposing that diverse environmental cues to orientation are weighted according to their experienced reliability, and a modular theory centering on encapsulated computations of the shape of the extended surface layout. Seven experiments test these theories by manipulating four properties of objects placed within a cylindrical space: their size, motion, dimensionality, and distance from the space's borders. Their findings support the modular theory and suggest that disoriented search behavior centers on two processes: a reorientation process based on the geometry of the 3D surface layout, and a beacon-guidance process based on the local features of objects and surface markings.
authors.affiliation: Harvard University, United States. sangah@gmail.com
authors.forename: Sang Ah
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Elizabeth S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Spelke
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009949:Orientation; D002666:Psychology, Child; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013028:Space Perception; D014796:Visual Perception