旋转任务中3～5岁儿童空间物体位置编码的研究

本实验探讨3~5岁儿童在对空间物体位置进行编码时,能否有效采用心理旋转策略或根据物体"位置关系"来判断物体方位。实验采用3×4混合设计,在旋转条件下研究上述问题。结果表明:(1)在策略方面,儿童对心理旋转的使用要显著优于利用位置关系进行判断;(2)随着年龄增长,心理旋转的能力不断提高,5岁时进步尤其明显;(3)3~5岁儿童均不能自动利用位置关系对物体位置进行编码,但5岁儿童经提示后可采用此策略。     

幼儿在地图任务中对自我位置与自我朝向的结合

使用地图-空间和空间-地图两种地图定向任务,设置需同时表征自我位置和自我朝向的任务情境,探讨了5~6岁幼儿在地图使用中结合自我位置和自我朝向表征的能力。结果发现:(1)位置选择和朝向选择同时正确的比率显著高于概率水平;(2)被试在位置选择上的准确性显著高于朝向选择;(3)位置表征与朝向表征之间的关系在不同任务条件下表现出一定的差异。这些结果说明,5~6岁幼儿在使用地图时已经能够同时关注空间位置与朝向,实现位置表征与朝向表征的结合。     

3-6年级数学学习困难儿童与正常儿童空间能力的比较

选取3-6年级数学学习困难和数学学习正常的儿童共458名,比较了两类儿童空间能力的发展特点。结果表明:(1)正常儿童的空间能力优于数困儿童,二者空间视觉化能力均优于空间定向能力;(2)正常儿童与数困儿童的空间能力均随年龄增长而提高,但二者不同空间能力快速发展的时间点不同;(3)单纯数困儿童的空间能力优于混合数困儿童,后者空间定向能力发展滞后;(4)正常儿童的空间能力在发展过程中对数学成绩的作用量为26.17%,数困儿童为28.43%。     

2～4岁儿童借助标识物进行视频空间定位能力的发展

分别以直接标识物和间接标识物为线索考察2.5岁、3岁、4岁儿童的视频空间定位能力发展.结果表明:在直接标识物任务中.各年龄组儿童空间定位的正确率无明显差异.而在间接标识物任务中,2.5岁儿童空间定位的正确率明显低于年长儿童;参照物的复杂程度影响2-4岁儿童视频空间定位的正确率,2.5岁和3岁儿童更易受影响;间接标识物所处位置对儿童视频空间定位产生影响.另外,在定位策略的使用上,两维视频空间中儿童表现出与三维空间不同的策略使用偏好,儿童更倾向于使用特征线索进行定位.而非几何线索.     

幼儿在地图任务中自我位置与自我朝向表征能力的发展

使用地图定向任务, 探讨了不同任务模式下, 4~6岁幼儿自我位置与自我朝向表征能力的发展特点。结果发现, 位置表征能力的获得先于朝向表征能力, 幼儿从4岁起即开始使用地图表征自我位置, 但到5岁才表现出对自我朝向的表征能力。此外, 对于年龄较小的儿童, 相比于空间–地图的任务模式, 地图–空间的任务模式更有利于完成任务。上述结果第一次从个体发展层面证明了位置与朝向表征的分离现象, 说明位置与朝向的表征能力在发展过程中具有一定的顺序性。     

儿童对空间位置协变的外显学习和内隐学习的比较研究

内隐学习是无意识地获得关于刺激环境的复杂知识的过程,是不同于外显学习模式的另一种学习模式。空间位置协变是一种复杂的关系,能被人们加工、储存、运用却不被意识。本研究采用反应时和预估正确率两个指标,通过实验比较了儿童对空间位置协变的外显学习和内隐学习的效果。结果表明,儿童在面临像空间位置协变这样的复杂任务时有内隐学习模式出现,并且内隐学习的效果优于外显学习。     

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。     

数学学习不良儿童视觉-空间表征与数学问题解决

采用临床访谈的方法,考察了30名数学学习不良(MD)儿童和31名一般儿童的数学问题解决、视觉-空间表征策略和空间视觉化能力。结果发现：图式表征能促进数学问题的解决,图像表征则起妨碍作用;空间视觉化能力与解题正确率及图式表征策略有显著正相关,与图像表征策略有显著负相关。MD儿童的解题正确率以及使用图式表征策略的程度显著低于一般儿童,使用图像表征策略的程度则显著高于一般儿童。在解题正确率和图式表征策略这两个变量上,MD儿童和一般儿童的年级发展趋势相同,都随年级的升高而提高。但在图像表征策略的使用上,一般儿童有随年级的升高而下降的趋势,MD儿童却没有下降的趋势。两类儿童的空间视觉化能力都随年级的升高而提高。     

幼儿地图定向任务中几何线索的运用及发展

几何线索对儿童理解地图与现实空间之间的对应关系具重要意义。目前研究以几何地图为材料,通过定向任务,考察儿童对不同几何线索(拓扑关系、欧式几何特征、度量结构)的利用与发展,揭示了儿童对地图与现实空间之间对应关系的认知过程。研究发现,3岁儿童已初步发展出使用欧氏几何特征和度量结构表征空间位置的能力;但不同欧式几何特征(相对距离、角度、方向)被儿童掌握的时间存在明显差别;关于拓扑关系的研究较少,尚未掌握儿童利用该线索的发展规律。提高生态效度是未来研究需解决的主要问题。     

三维空间中视觉空间返回抑制对Simon效应的影响

通过虚拟现实技术构建虚拟三维场景,采用视觉空间返回抑制范式与Simon任务的变式相结合,操纵了目标深度、线索有效性以及空间一致性三个变量,考察三维空间深度位置上视觉空间返回抑制如何影响任务无关的反应表征(Simon效应)。结果发现,(1)三维空间深度位置上存在基于空间的返回抑制效应,且空间返回抑制效应会削减Simon效应;(2)目标出现在远处空间时,线索化条件下的Simon效应显著大于非线索化条件下的Simon效应;(3)目标出现在近处空间时,线索化条件与非线索化条件下的Simon效应之间无显著差异。研究表明,空间返回抑制并不是"深度盲",且目标的空间位置会对空间返回抑制与Simon效应的交互关系产生影响。     

Best friends: children use mutual gaze to identify friendships in others

This study examined children's ability to use mutual eye gaze as a cue to friendships in others. In Experiment 1, following a discussion about friendship, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds were shown animations in which three cartoon children looked at one another, and were told that one target character had a best friend. Although all age groups accurately detected the mutual gaze between the target and another character, only 5- and 6-year-olds used this cue to infer friendship. Experiment 2 replicated the effect with 5- and 6-year-olds when the target character was not explicitly identified. Finally, in Experiment 3, where the attribution of friendship could only be based on synchronized mutual gaze, 6-year-olds made this attribution, while 4- and 5-year-olds did not. Children occasionally referred to mutual eye gaze when asked to justify their responses in Experiments 2 and 3, but it was only by the age of 6 that reference to these cues correlated with the use of mutual gaze in judgements of affiliation. Although younger children detected mutual gaze, it was not until 6 years of age that children reliably detected and justified mutual gaze as a cue to friendship.     

The developing role of prosody in novel word interpretation

This study examined whether children use prosodic correlates to word meaning when interpreting novel words. For example, do children infer that a word spoken in a deep, slow, loud voice refers to something larger than a word spoken in a high, fast, quiet voice? Participants were 4- and 5-year-olds who viewed picture pairs that varied along a single dimension (e.g., big vs. small flower) and heard a recorded voice asking them, for example, “Can you get the blicket one?” spoken with either meaningful or neutral prosody. The 4-year-olds failed to map prosodic cues to their corresponding meaning, whereas the 5-year-olds succeeded (Experiment 1). However, 4-year-olds successfully mapped prosodic cues to word meaning following a training phase that reinforced children’s attention to prosodic information (Experiment 2). These studies constitute the first empirical demonstration that young children are able to use prosody-to-meaning correlates as a cue to novel word interpretation.     

Additivity pretraining and cue competition effects: developmental evidence for a reasoning-based account of causal learning

The effect of additivity pretraining on blocking has been taken as evidence for a reasoning account of human and animal causal learning. If inferential reasoning underpins this effect, then developmental differences in the magnitude of this effect in children would be expected. Experiment 1 examined cue competition effects in children's (4- to 5-year-olds and 6- to 7-year-olds) causal learning using a new paradigm analogous to the food allergy task used in studies of human adult causal learning. Blocking was stronger in the older than the younger children, and additivity pretraining only affected blocking in the older group. Unovershadowing was not affected by age or by pretraining. In experiment 2, levels of blocking were found to be correlated with the ability to answer questions that required children to reason about additivity. Our results support an inferential reasoning explanation of cue competition effects.     

The role of imagination in facilitating deductive reasoning in 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds.

When 4- and 6-year-olds are cued to use their imagination, they can overcome the belief bias effect and demonstrate deductive reasoning ability on syllogisms containing contrary-to-fact material. This study tested whether 2- and 3-year-olds could also reason with incongruent syllogisms when encouraged to use their imagination. Eighty-four 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: no cue, word cue, fantasy planet or imagery. Children were then presented with six syllogistic reasoning problems containing incongruent information. In the imagination conditions, 2- and 3-year-olds performed as competently as 4-year-olds. The findings are discussed in relation to other research which suggests that under certain circumstances 2- and 3-year-olds have the capacity for counterfactual thinking.     

The development of landmark and beacon use in young children: evidence from a touchscreen search task

Children ages 2, 3 and 4 years participated in a novel hide-and-seek search task presented on a touchscreen monitor. On beacon trials, the target hiding place could be located using a beacon cue, but on landmark trials, searching required the use of a nearby landmark cue. In Experiment 1, 2-year-olds performed less accurately than older children on landmark trials but performed equivalently on beacon trials. In Experiment 2, the number of items on the screen was reduced and 2-year-olds' performance improved. Use of the landmark transformation technique in Experiment 3 revealed that older children formed a more precise landmark-target spatial relationship than 2-year-olds. Experiment 4 showed that the transformation itself was not responsible for the youngest participants' decreased accuracy in Experiment 3. Overall, beacons were utilized effectively by all participants, but the use of landmark cues is refined between the ages of 2 and 4.     

Maturation of Spatial Navigation Strategies: Convergent Findings from Computerized Spatial Environments and Self-Report

Using 2 computerized spatial navigation tasks, we examined the development of cue and place learning in children ages 3 to 10 years, comparing their data to adults. We also examined relations between place learning in computerized and real space. Results showed children use the 2-dimensional space as if it were real space. Results also demonstrated that children ages 3 to 10 years cue learn (locating a visible target) but do not show evidence of mature place learning (locating an invisible target) until around age 10 years. Self-report data indicated an age-related increase in use of relations among distal cues during place learning. Children ages 3 to 4 years did not report using distal cues; most 9- to 10-year-old children reported using multiple distal cues to guide their search during place learning. Results suggest that, as maturation proceeds, children make increasing use of relations among multiple distal cues to guide a search for places in space.     

Development of spatial memory and spatial orientation in preschoolers and primary school children

The present study addresses the question of what kind of information children use when orientating in new environments, if given proximal and distal landmarks, and how spatial memory develops in the investigated age groups. Ten 5-year-old, ten 7-year-old and ten 10-year-old children were presented with the ‘Kiel Locomotor Maze’, containing features of the Radial Arm Maze and the Morris Water Maze, in order to assess spatial memory and orientation. Children had to learn to approach baited locations only. Task difficulty was equated with respect to the children's age. Training was given until the children reached criterion. During testing, the maze configuration and response requirements were systematically altered, including response rotation, cue rotation, cue deletion and response rotation with cue deletion in order to assess the spatial strategies used by the children. During training and testing, working-memory errors (WM), reference-memory errors (RM) and working-reference memory errors (WR) were recorded. As expected, no difference between age groups appeared during training, thus confirming comparable task difficulty across age groups. During testing, age groups differed significantly with regard to the orientation strategy used. The 5-year-olds were bound to a cue strategy, orientating towards local, proximal cues. The 10-year-olds mastered all tasks, thus displaying a place strategy, being able to use distal cues for orientation, and were even able to do so after being rotated 180°. The 7-year-olds proved to be at an age of transition: five of them were bound to a cue strategy, five children were able to adopt a place strategy. The differences in the orientation strategies used by children of different age groups was reflected by the sum of errors they made, also by RM. WM were found to be rare, especially in older children. We conclude that preschoolers use a cue strategy, that the development of place strategies occurs during primary school age and seems to be complete by the age of 10 years.     

Acquiring variation in an artificial language: Children and adults are sensitive to socially conditioned linguistic variation

Languages exhibit sociolinguistic variation, such that adult native speakers condition the usage of linguistic variants on social context, gender, and ethnicity, among other cues. While the existence of this kind of socially conditioned variation is well-established, less is known about how it is acquired. Studies of naturalistic language use by children provide various examples where children’s production of sociolinguistic variants appears to be conditioned on similar factors to adults’ production, but it is difficult to determine whether this reflects knowledge of sociolinguistic conditioning or systematic differences in the input to children from different social groups. Furthermore, artificial language learning experiments have shown that children have a tendency to eliminate variation, a process which could potentially work against their acquisition of sociolinguistic variation. The current study used a semi-artificial language learning paradigm to investigate learning of the sociolinguistic cue of speaker identity in 6-year-olds and adults. Participants were trained and tested on an artificial language where nouns were obligatorily followed by one of two meaningless particles and were produced by one of two speakers (one male, one female). Particle usage was conditioned deterministically on speaker identity (Experiment 1), probabilistically (Experiment 2), or not at all (Experiment 3). Participants were given tests of production and comprehension. In Experiments 1 and 2, both children and adults successfully acquired the speaker identity cue, although the effect was stronger for adults and in Experiment 1. In addition, in all three experiments, there was evidence of regularization in participants’ productions, although the type of regularization differed with age: children showed regularization by boosting the frequency of one particle at the expense of the other, while adults regularized by conditioning particle usage on lexical items. Overall, results demonstrate that children and adults are sensitive to speaker identity cues, an ability which is fundamental to tracking sociolinguistic variation, and that children’s well-established tendency to regularize does not prevent them from learning sociolinguistically conditioned variation.     

Developmental differences in children's context-dependent word learning

In this study, 2.5-, 3-, and 4-year-olds (N = 108) participated in a novel noun generalization task in which background context was manipulated. During the learning phase of each trial, children were presented with exemplars in one or multiple background contexts. At the test, children were asked to generalize to a novel exemplar in either the same or a different context. The 2.5-year-olds’ performance was supported by matching contexts; otherwise, children in this age group demonstrated context dependent generalization. The 3-year-olds’ performance was also supported by matching contexts; however, children in this age group were aided by training in multiple contexts as well. Finally, the 4-year-olds demonstrated high performance in all conditions. The results are discussed in terms of the relationship between word learning and memory processes; both general memory development and memory developments specific to word learning (e.g., retention of linguistic labels) are likely to support word learning and generalization.     

学习不良儿童元记忆监测与控制的发展

采用2×3×2的混合设计,在自定步调和对项目逐项评定的学习条件下,对小学四~六年级学习不良儿童的元记忆监测与时间分配策略进行了实验研究。结果表明：在对学习材料难度的有效区分上,学习不良儿童与对照组儿童间无差异,不论学习不良组还是对照组,四年级儿童均不能对实验中配对学习材料难度性质做出明确区分,五、六年级儿童能够很好的区分学习材料难度;在学习判断水平上,五、六年级学习不良儿童均低于对照组儿童,四年级两组之间无差异;从对不同难度学习材料的时间分配来看,四年级学习不良儿童与对照组儿童分配在不同难度材料上的学习时间均无显著差别。五、六年级对照组儿童能够根据学习材料的不同难度分配不同学习时间,而且学习时间分配与难度判断之间存在显著相关。五、六年级学习不良儿童能在一定程度上根据学习材料的不同难度分配不同的学习时间,但这种时间分配与难度判断之间相关未达到显著水平,提示他们尚不能在有效元记忆监测基础上对不同难度学习材料进行合理的时间分配