Young Children's Representation of Locations in a Series: A Front-Back Representation or an Ordinal Representation?

Yi Shao,Qingfen Hu,Yuejia Fu

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01327

Yi Shao, Qingfen Hu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01327

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Abstract

Previous research has found that 3–5-year-old children could encode and retrieve a target location in a two-location series. In a paradigm of running two symmetrical railcars on a circular track, the study suggested that children used front-back array to help coding. That is, children at this age code the railcar running in the front of another as “the location in the front” and the railcar running in the back of another as “the location in the back.” However, the children’s success could be attributed to an alternative interpretation; using an ordinal representation to encode the location in front as the first with the other as the second. The current study used a four-location series to examine the children’s mental representation. Three- to five-year-old children participated in a hide-and-seek game to remember a target location out of four locations that moved in a series. The results showed salient individual differences in children’s representation, and their performance improved as the representation progressed. An ordinal representation supported the precise encoding of each location, while a vague front-back representation and a clearer front-middle-back representation led to different performance.

Highlights

Three spatial reference frames are available in a human’s encoding and retrieving process: egocentric reference frame, in which locations are encoded with respect to the individuals themselves; allocentric reference frame, in which locations are encoded with respect to the external environment; and intrinsic reference frame, in which locations are encoded with respect to other associated locations (Negen and Nardini, 2015)
In the study of Hu et al (2017), children were presented with two symmetrical railcars running on a circular track
Their task was to remember one of the railcars as the hiding place and retrieve this target location after the railcars had run for a period of time

Summary

Introduction

Three spatial reference frames are available in a human’s encoding and retrieving process: egocentric reference frame, in which locations are encoded with respect to the individuals themselves; allocentric reference frame, in which locations are encoded with respect to the external environment; and intrinsic reference frame, in which locations are encoded with respect to other associated locations (Negen and Nardini, 2015). Prior studies have found that children could not use complex intrinsic spatial relations involving several arrayed locations until age 5 (Nardini et al, 2006; Negen and Nardini, 2015). In the study of Hu et al (2017), children were presented with two symmetrical railcars running on a circular track. Their task was to remember one of the railcars as the hiding place and retrieve this target location after the railcars had run for a period of time. The topic and design in Hu et al ’s study is different from Piaget’s In their experiment, the railcars ran at the same speed and time.

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