The Emergence of Flexible Spatial Strategies in Young Children

Autor/inn/en	Waismeyer, Anna S.; Jacobs, Lucia F.
Titel	The Emergence of Flexible Spatial Strategies in Young Children
Quelle	In: Developmental Psychology, 49 (2013) 2, S.232-242 (11 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0012-1649
DOI	10.1037/a0028334
Schlagwörter	Cues; Young Children; Memory; Experiments; Spatial Ability; Probability; Bayesian Statistics; Preschool Children; Stimuli; Test Results; California + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Stichwort; Frühe Kindheit; Gedächtnis; Erprobung; Räumliches Vorstellungsvermögen; Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung; Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Child; Children; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Anreizsystem; Kalifornien
Abstract	The development of spatial navigation in children depends not only on remembering which landmarks lead to a goal location but also on developing strategies to deal with changes in the environment or imperfections in memory. Using cue combination methods, the authors examined 3- and 4-year-old children's memory for different types of spatial cues and the spatial strategies that they use when those cues are in conflict. Children were taught to search for a toy in 1 of 4 possible hiding locations. Children were then tested on transformations of the array of locations. The transformations dissociated the different types of cues by putting them in conflict with one another. The authors were especially interested in the use of a majority strategy, by which children choose to search in the location indicated by the greatest number of cue types rather than relying on a preferred cue type. Children's memory for spatial cues and their strategies varied both by age and by experimental setup. In Experiment 1, both 3- and 4-year-old children preferred to use the distinct landmarks coincident with the hiding locations over any other types of cues and showed no use of a majority strategy. However, in Experiment 2, when the coincident landmarks were moved adjacent to the hiding locations, both 3- and 4-year-old children preferred to search in the position of the hiding location relative to the array. Furthermore, 4-year-old children in Experiment 2 showed better memory for individual types of cues and the emergence of a majority strategy. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10