4—6岁幼儿空间方位传递性推理能力的发展

该研究旨在探查4、5、6岁幼儿空间上下和前后方位传递性推理能力的发展水平及不同实验条件(一致、模糊、冲突)下儿童的传递性推理能力。为了尽量降低记忆对推理的影响,要求幼儿在前提呈现的条件下按前提方位关系进行传递性推理操作。被试为幼儿园4、5、6岁组儿童各24人,其中男女各半。主要结果表明：4岁幼儿开始萌发空间前后和上下方位的传递性推理能力;从4岁到6岁,“上下”方位传递性推理能力的发展优于“前后”方位;4—6岁幼儿还不能完全摆脱知觉干扰因素的影响,形成稳定的传递性推理能力。     

2.5—6岁儿童解决五项系列问题的研究

利用五项系列问题设计了5种情境研究2.5—6岁儿童的传递性关系推理,发现:(1)在未经训练的情况下,4岁组以下不具备这种能力,4—5岁幼儿的传递性关系推理能力开始萌芽,5—6岁是该能力的发展加速期,6岁组幼儿基本上具备了这种能力;在接受训练之后,2.5—3.5岁幼儿基本不具备这种能力,4岁组幼儿大致处于临界水平,5岁组以上已经基本具备。(2)比较句式理解失误和前提记忆不足均是幼儿推理失败的重要心理因素。(3)前提表达方式影响幼儿的推理成败。(4)与用三项系列问题作材料的研究相比,用五项系列问题作刺激所引起的推理能力表现得晚得多。     

学前儿童基于物体重量归纳推理的发展:中美跨文化比较

关于物体重量认知的研究是探讨儿童整个认知发展的重要途径之一。本文通过两个实验考察了美国和中国儿童利用语言标签基于重量进行归纳推理的发展特点及跨文化一致性。实验人员利用语言标签提示三个外部知觉特征完全相似物体中的一个物体,随后要求儿童从剩余两个物体中选择一个他们认为和目标物体共享语言标签的物体。研究考察儿童是否能够基于物体的内在属性重量进行类别判断。结果显示:(1) 4岁和5岁儿童以重量进行归纳推理显著高于3岁儿童, 4岁和5岁儿童之间的差异不显著;(2)美国和中国4岁和5岁儿童的表现均显著高于随机水平, 3岁儿童与随机水平没有显著差异;(3)美国2岁儿童的表现边缘低于随机水平, 6岁儿童显著高于随机水平。总之,儿童利用语言标签进行基于重量的归纳推理随年龄增长而发展;美国和中国儿童在发展特点及年龄转折上具有跨文化一致性, 4岁儿童具备了利用语言标签进行基于物体内在属性归纳推理的能力。     

语言影响4～6岁彝、白、纳西族儿童延迟满足能力发展

采用延迟满足范式,考察了彝、白、纳西族272名4~6岁儿童延迟满足能力发展。结果发现:(1)在延迟满足的"选择"阶段,三个民族95%儿童选择"延迟满足",表现出一致选择倾向;(2)在延迟满足的"维持"阶段,4、5岁年龄组白族、纳西族儿童等待时间显著长于彝族儿童,而6岁年龄组三个民族在等待时间上未表现出显著差异;(3)加入协变量语言后,民族和年龄间主效应、民族与年龄间交互作用均不显著。研究表明, 4~6岁彝、白、纳西族儿童表现出相当的价值评估能力, 4~5岁的儿童延迟满足能力表现出民族差异性,而这种差异主要与其独特文化背景下形成的语言、生活历史策略等有关。     

3～5岁幼儿在视野阻隔任务中的长度传递性推理

设计视野阻隔任务,控制了短时记忆和直接比较的两难问题,考察3～5岁幼儿长度传递性推理能力的发展趋势和传递性推理这一认知过程的发展序列。以2(间隔长度)×2(摆放方式)×4(年龄)的三因素混合设计,研究了240名幼儿,结果表明:(1)3～4岁是长度传递性推理能力的快速发展期,4岁以后的幼儿大部分具备了这一能力,发展速度趋于平缓;(2)任务类型影响推理成绩;(3)基于传递关系的推理依据与推理总成绩显著正相关。研究认为:年仅4岁幼儿具备传递性推理能力蕴含教育价值;传递性推理的认知过程经历了四个可辨别的发展序列,依次主要发生在36～42个月、43～48个月、49～54个月和55～60个月的幼儿当中。     

因果条件中儿童社会信息推理的发展

采用因果条件性逻辑推理研究的一般模式,研究了儿童社会信息因果推理发展状况。实验结果表明：(1)儿童社会信息推理能力呈年级性递增。(2)社会信息的内容会影响儿童社会信息推理的能力。(3)儿童四种逻辑形式推理能力之间的差异显著．AC、DA在年级水平上差异都十分显著,但MP和MT在年级水平上差异不显著,儿童在各个年级四种推理能力之间的差异都显著,确定型和非确定型逻辑推理能力之间的差异显著。(4)逻辑形式的难度、儿童的年龄影响儿童合理化解释的类型。     

3~5岁儿童理解和使用空间表征的特点

以96名3~5儿童为被试,采用自编的儿童空间表征实验任务,在语言表征、模型表征和图画表征三种空间表征形式上,考察了儿童理解和使用空间表征的发展特点。结果表明:(1)总体上,3~5岁儿童理解空间表征的发展水平均显著高于使用空间表征的发展水平。(2)3~5岁儿童理解和使用空间表征的发展表现出显著的年龄效应。(3)从不同的空间表证形式来看,3岁儿童理解语言表征的能力与理解模型表征的能力之间差异显著,4岁儿童使用语言表征的能力与使用模型表征的能力之间的差异、使用语言表征的能力与使用图画表征的能力之间的差异、以及使用模型表征的能力与使用图画表征的能力之间的差异都显著,其余形式的空间表征理解之间的差异或空间表征使用之间的差异在各年龄段中均不显著。     

3～6岁儿童情景记忆及其监测能力的发展

通过以图片内容的再认作为项目记忆任务,图片与颜色背景的联结记忆作为来源记忆任务,并对两种记忆结果分别做信心判断,考察3~6岁儿童情景记忆及其监测能力的发展特点。结果表明:3岁儿童已具有项目记忆能力,4~6岁儿童其项目记忆能力显著优于3岁;6岁时才发展出来源记忆,两种记忆的发展不平衡。3~6岁儿童已经具备有效的项目记忆监测能力,但4~6岁儿童的监测准确性要高于3岁儿童;6岁儿童能够有效监测来源记忆,其准确性显著高于3~5岁儿童。结论:3~6岁儿童随年龄增长情景记忆及其监测能力不断发展,且来源记忆能力及有效监测能力的发展要滞后于项目记忆。     

不同概念范畴和特征类别对儿童归纳推理多样性效应的影响

为探讨概念范畴和特征类别对归纳推理多样性效应的影响, 采用2(概念范畴: 生物类别与非生物类别)´2(特征类别: 不可见的隐蔽特征和可见的外显特征)的实验设计, 设计了四组任务来考察5~6岁、8~9岁儿童归纳推理多样性效应的表现水平。结果显示: 在非生物类别范畴材料上, 5~6岁儿童在两种特征类别上均未表现出多样性效应, 8~9岁儿童在隐蔽特征类别上表现出多样性效应; 在生物类别材料上, 5~6岁、8~9岁儿童在外显特征和隐蔽特征上均未表现出多样性效应。概念范畴和特征类别对8~9岁儿童的归纳判断力有显著影响: 在概念范畴上, 儿童在非生物范畴材料上的表现显著高于生物范畴; 在特征类别上, 儿童在隐蔽特征上的表现高于外显特征。     

儿童行为与心理水平的特质推理的发展

选取4岁组、5岁组、7岁组、10岁组、12岁组儿童和成人共192名(各年龄组32名, 男女各半)为被试, 采用个别测查法考察学前和小学儿童行为与心理水平的特质推理发展。结果表明: (1)4岁时儿童已能进行行为水平的特质推理, 5岁时才能进行心理水平的特质推理, 即使用特质引发规则进行特质推理, 10岁时两者均达到成人水平。(2)4岁、5岁时儿童心理水平的特质推理显著落后于行为水平的特质推理, 至少7岁时两者处于同一水平上。(3)儿童使用概念相似规则而不是情境匹配规则进行行为预测。(4)4岁儿童不使用简单效价规则进行行为预测, 5岁及以上儿童使用简单效价规则, 但他们是在区分同一特质范畴和不同特质范畴的基础上、在较低的确定程度上使用该规则。     

The Assessment of Children's Understanding of Inclusion Relations: Transitivity,Asymmetry, and Quantification

This study investigated the development of the understanding of class inclusion in children age 5, 7, and 9 years, whose performance on a qualitative class-inference task assessing their appreciation of the transitive and asymmetrical nature of inclusive relations within the animal domain was compared with their ability to make quantitative inferences in Piagetian class-inclusion problems. Results showed that, although 5-year-olds demonstrate a fair knowledge of the transitivity of inclusion relations, this notion is not fully understood until the age of 7. In contrast, the process leading to the acquisition of asymmetry understanding appears relatively slowly, and is not yet completed by 9 years of age. Whereas the ability to make qualitative inferences requiring the understanding of transitivity is acquired well before the ability to make quantitative inferences, making qualitative inferences requiring a knowledge of asymmetry is as difficult as making quantified judgments. Methodological considerations about the complementarity of the two kinds of tasks, along with the theoretical implications of our findings for Blewitt's developmental model of hierarchical knowledge, are discussed.     

小学儿童一维空间方位传递性推理能力的发展

研究了小学儿童一维空间方位传递性推理能力的发展水平及认知策略 ,同时 ,对心理模型理论进行了检验。被试为城市中等小学 7岁、9岁、11岁儿童各 2 4名 ,男女各半。 4种实验任务分别为三前提单模型、三前提双模型、四前提单模型和四前提双模型。采用个别实验 ,儿童在前提呈现的情况下进行推理。主要研究结果 :(1)从小学 7岁到 11岁 ,儿童的一维空间方位传递性推理能力明显提高 ,7岁儿童初步形成了一维空间方位推理能力 ,9岁和 11岁基本具有了这种能力 ;(2 )随着年龄增长 ,使用模型建构策略解决问题的儿童人次越来越多 ,绝大部分 11岁儿童都能使用这一策略进行推理。但即使儿童使用了模型建构策略 ,他们的推理成绩也没有反映出模型数量所造成的任务难度差异 ,即不符合心理模型理论关于模型数量的主要预期。     

Transitive inference in rats (Rattus norvegicus).

Although Piagetian theory proposes that the ability to make transitive inferences is confined to humans above age 7, recent evidence has suggested that this logical ability may be more broad based. In nonverbal tests, transitive inference has been demonstrated in preschool children and 2 species of nonhuman primates. In these experiments, I demonstrate evidence of transitive inference in rats (Rattus norvegicus). I used an ordered series of 5 olfactory stimuli (A < B < C < D < E) from which correct inferences were made about the novel B versus D pair. Control procedures indicated that performance did not depend on the recency with which the correct answer was rewarded during training and may be disrupted by the addition of logically inconsistent premises (F > E and A > F). The possibility that logical transitivity may reflect a form of spatial paralogic rather than formal deductions from a syllogistic-verbal system is discussed.     

Do children have to remember to reason? A fuzzy-trace theory of transitivity development

An idea that has become commonplace in the literature on cognitive development is that the solution of thinking and reasoning problems requires that children retain accurate representations of certain background facts in short-term memory. This reasoning/remembering hypothesis is reexamined with reference to the one childhood cognitive task for which the validity of the hypothesis seems to be firmly established, transitive inference. Although the hypothesis says that children's transitive inferences are critically dependent on memory for the initial premise information, it is shown in six experiments that transitivity and premise memory are independent abilities in children. A fuzzy-trace theory is developed to explain this surprising independence effect. The theory assumes that children retain only degraded, schematic representations (fuzzy traces) of the overall pattern of an ordered series and that performance on subsequent test trials is mediated by processing operations that flesh out vague pattern information. Some further experiments that were designed to test various predictions of the fuzzy-trace theory are reported. Last, it is shown that reasoning and remembering are independent abilities in some other childhood cognitive tasks for which the initial background facts are not logically inescapable components of the eventual solution. These reasoning/remembering independence effects argue for an increased emphasis on encoding selectivity in theories of cognitive development.     

Logical versus Associative Performance on Transitive Reasoning Tasks by Children: Implications for the Status of Animals Performance

Although monkeys, pigeons, rats and chimpanzees all appear to be able to draw transitive inferences, young children fail to do so in some situations. If we take successful performance to be indicative of rationality-as animal researchers sometimes do (Monkeys are rational!McGonigle & Chalmers, 1992)-we have the paradox that animals are, on this criterion, more rational than are school-age children. It is possible, however, to complete 5-term transitive tasks by recruiting associative rather than logical processes; and, indeed, the tasks given to animals not only afford associative solutions but seem to require them (M&C tasks, after McGonigle & Chalmers, 1992). We asked whether 5- to 6-year-old children find a task that naturally affords the application of a logical rule (a B&T task, after Bryant & Trabasso, 1971) easier to perform than an M&C task that does not. The children found the B&T task easiera difference that could not be explained in terms of difference in memory for the premises. This leaves open the possibility that, although children are not restricted to associative strategies when completing 5-term series tasks, animals may be thus restricted.     

The role of cues to differential absolute size in children's transitive inferences

To investigate the role that "nonlogical" cues might play in transitive inference, 6- and 7-year-olds were given a three-term transitive task in which perceptual cues to differential absolute size were either present or absent. Relationships between the taught premises and the relational information that was physically present were manipulated using four basic conditions: "congruent," "inverse," "pretended," or "persuaded." Both age groups showed identical overall premise memory, but the younger group tended to reason more on the basis of the perceptual information rather than on the successfully encoded premise information. Contrasts between the various conditions showed that categorical effects can be circumvented in three-term problems with appropriate controls, that there may be qualitative as well as quantitative differences in transitive inference with age, and that transitive inference is not based solely on memory. The findings also indicate that, although 7-year-olds are competent in "logic-based" transitive inference, they experience great difficulty on tasks involving pretend information.     

Phonological Working Memory and Spoken Language Development in Young Children

This study investigated the relationship between phonological working memory and spoken language development in a large unselected sample of 4- and 5-year old children. Assessments were made of the language produced by the children on the Bus Story (Renfrew, 1969), a standard test of continuous speech. In this test, children listen to a story, which they then recount with the aid of visual clues. The amount of information recalled and the average length of the five longest utterances are taken as indices of children's expressive language abilities. Phonological working memory skills were indexed by memory span and the ability to repeat non-words. The ability to repeat non-words made a significant contribution to the variance in the children's speech independently of age, vocabulary knowledge, and nonverbal cognitive skills. The possible mechanisms by which skills assessed by phonological memory tasks may be linked to the development of speech production abilities are considered.     

小学儿童在不同刺激材料中的左右空间方位传递性推理能力及策略分析

采用定性和定量相结合的研究方法,从图形刺激材料和文字刺激材料入手,探查了7岁、9岁、11岁儿童的一维空间方位传递性推理能力的发展水平及其认知策略。主要研究结果表明:(1)小学儿童的一维空间方位传递性推理能力从7岁到9岁,从9岁到11岁都有显著性提高。7岁儿童处于能力的初步形成期,9岁儿童是能力的提高和发展期,11岁儿童已基本具有了一维空间方位单模型条件下的传递性推理能力;(2)小学儿童在图形刺激材料条件下的推理成绩显著优于文字刺激材料条件下的推理成绩;(3)前提数量的增加没有对小学儿童的推理造成显著性影响;(4)随着儿童年龄的增长,模型建构策略的使用者越来越多,但在图形刺激材料和文字刺激材料下,儿童解决问题的策略有所不同。在图形刺激材料下,大部分7岁和9岁的儿童采用知觉策略,11岁儿童中只有少部分人使用这一策略。在文字刺激材料下,模型建构策略是儿童推理的主要策略。少部分7岁儿童使用模型建构策略,大部分9岁儿童和绝大部分11岁儿童使用模型建构策略来解决问题。