The Credible Shrinking Room: Very Young Children's Performance With Symbolic and Nonsymbolic Relations

Becoming a proficient symbol user is a universal developmental task in the first years of life, but detecting and mentally representing symbolic relations can be quite challenging for young children To test the extent to which symbolic reasoning per se is problematic, we compared the performance of 2 1/2-year-olds in symbolic and nonsymbolic versions of a search task. The children had to use their knowledge of the location of a toy hidden in a room to draw an inference about where to find a miniature toy in a scale model of the room (and vice versa) Children in the nonsymbolic condition believed a shrinking machine had caused the room to become the model They were much more successful than children in the symbolic condition, for whom the model served as a symbol of the room The results provide strong support for the role of dual representation in symbol understanding and use.

[1]  J. Perner.  Understanding the Representational Mind , 1993 .

[2]  H. Pick,et al.  Young children's use of models and photographs as spatial representations , 1992 .

[3]  J. Gibson.  The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception , 1979 .

[4]  R. Nida,et al.  Does the use of dolls facilitate children's memory of visits to the doctor? , 1993 .

[5]  Judy S. DeLoache,et al.  Early Understanding and Use of Symbols: The Model Model , 1995 .

[6]  DeWitt H. Parker,et al.  Philosophy in a New Key , 1941 .

[7]  G. Goodman,et al.  Children's use of anatomically detailed dolls to recount an event. , 1990, Child development.

[8]  Donald P. Marzolf,et al.  Transfer in young children's understanding of spatial representations. , 1994, Child development.

[9]  J. Deloache,et al.  Physical similarity and young children's understanding of scale models. , 1991, Child development.

[10]  M. Bruck,et al.  Anatomically detailed dolls do not facilitate preschoolers' reports of a pediatric examination involving genital touching , 1995 .

[11]  A. Lillard,et al.  Pretend play skills and the child's theory of mind. , 1993, Child development.

[12]  J. Deloache,et al.  Manipulatives as symbols: A new perspective on the use of concrete objects to teach mathematics , 1997 .

[13]  L. Acredolo,et al.  Developmental Changes in Map-Reading Skills. , 1979 .

[14]  J. Deloache.  Symbolic functioning in very young children: understanding of pictures and models. , 1991, Child development.

[15]  M. Blades,et al.  The development of children's ability to use spatial representations. , 1994, Advances in child development and behavior.

[16]  J. Deloache.  Rapid change in the symbolic functioning of very young children. , 1987, Science.

[17]  J. Deloache,et al.  Waiting to use a symbol: the effects of delay on children's use of models. , 1995, Child development.

[18]  J. Deloache,et al.  The use of dolls to interview young children: issues of symbolic representation. , 1995, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[19]  Lynn S. Liben,et al.  Developing an understanding of graphic representations in children and adults: The case of GEO-graphics , 1992 .

[20]  J. Deloache.  Young children's understanding of the correspondence between a scale model and a larger space , 1989 .

[21]  R. Gregory.  The intelligent eye , 1970 .

[22]  Elizabeth S. Spelke,et al.  A geometric process for spatial reorientation in young children , 1994, Nature.