The Pennsylvania State University.
Child Dev. 2013 Nov-Dec;84(6):2047-63. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12090. Epub 2013 Apr 1.
Researchers have shown that young children solve mapping tasks in small spaces, but have rarely tested children's performance in large, unfamiliar environments. In the current research, children (9-10 years; N = 40) explored an unfamiliar campus and marked flags' locations on a map. As hypothesized, better performance was predicted by higher spatial-test scores, greater spontaneous use of map-space coordinating strategies, and participant sex (favoring boys). Data supported some but not all hypotheses about the roles of specific spatial skills for mapping performance. Data patterns were similar on a computer mapping task that displayed environmental-scale videos of walks through a park. Patterns of children's mapping errors suggested both idiosyncratic and common mapping strategies that should be addressed in future research and educational interventions.
研究人员已经证明，幼儿可以在小空间中解决映射任务，但很少有研究测试儿童在大而陌生的环境中的表现。在当前的研究中，儿童（9-10 岁；N=40）探索了一个陌生的校园，并在地图上标记旗帜的位置。正如假设的那样，较高的空间测试分数、更自发地使用地图空间协调策略以及参与者的性别（偏向男孩）预测了更好的表现。数据支持了一些但不是所有关于特定空间技能对映射性能的作用的假设。在一个显示公园散步环境尺度视频的计算机映射任务中，数据模式是相似的。儿童映射错误的模式表明了特定和共同的映射策略，这应该在未来的研究和教育干预中得到解决。
