Shusterman Anna, Ah Lee Sang, Spelke Elizabeth S
Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459, USA.
Dev Sci. 2008 Mar;11(2):F1-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00670.x.
Two experiments tested whether 4-year-old children extract and use geometric information in simple maps without task instruction or feedback. Children saw maps depicting an arrangement of three containers and were asked to place an object into a container designated on the map. In Experiment 1, one of the three locations on the map and the array was distinct and therefore served as a landmark; in Experiment 2, only angle, distance and sense information specified the target container. Children in both experiments used information for distance and angle, but not sense, showing signature error patterns found in adults. Children thus show early, spontaneously developing abilities to detect geometric correspondences between three-dimensional layouts and two-dimensional maps, and they use these correspondences to guide navigation. These findings begin to chart the nature and limits of the use of core geometry in a uniquely human, symbolic task.
两项实验测试了4岁儿童在没有任务指令或反馈的情况下，是否能在简单地图中提取并使用几何信息。儿童观看描绘三个容器排列的地图，并被要求将一个物体放入地图上指定的容器中。在实验1中，地图上的三个位置之一与阵列是不同的，因此作为一个地标；在实验2中，只有角度、距离和方向信息指定了目标容器。两个实验中的儿童都使用了距离和角度信息，但没有使用方向信息，呈现出在成年人中发现的典型错误模式。因此，儿童表现出早期自发发展的能力，能够检测三维布局与二维地图之间的几何对应关系，并利用这些对应关系来指导导航。这些发现开始描绘在一项独特的人类符号任务中使用核心几何的性质和局限性。
