title: On the validity and robustness of the scale error phenomenon in early childhood.
abstract: Scale errors is a term referring to very young children's serious efforts to perform actions on miniature replica objects that are impossible due to great differences in the size of the child's body and the size of the target objects. We report three studies providing further documentation of scale errors and investigating the validity and robustness of the phenomenon. In the first, we establish that 2-year-olds' behavior in response to prompts to "pretend" with miniature replica objects differs dramatically from scale errors. The second and third studies address the robustness of the phenomenon and its relative imperviousness to attempts to influence the rate of scale errors.
authors.affiliation: University of Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Judy S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: DeLoache
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: LoBue
authors.forename: Mieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vanderborght
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chiong
mesh_terms: D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results