Barhorst-Cates Erica M, Creem-Regehr Sarah H, Stefanucci Jeanine K, Gardner Jean, Saccomano Trish, Wright Cheryl
Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, United States.
University of Utah, United States.
Perception. 2020 Nov;49(11):1200-1212. doi: 10.1177/0301006620964414. Epub 2020 Oct 12.
Successful performance on the water-level task, a common measure of spatial perception, requires adopting an environmental, rather than object-centered, spatial frame of reference. Use of this strategy has not been systematically studied in prepubertal children, a developmental period during which individual differences in spatial abilities start to emerge. In this study, children aged 8 to 11 reported their age and gender, completed a paper-and-pencil water-level task, and drew a map of their neighborhood to assess spontaneous choice of spatial frame of reference. Results showed a surprising lack of age or gender difference in water-level performance, but a significant effect of spatial frame of reference. Although they made up only a small portion of the sample, children who drew allocentric maps had the highest water-level score, with very high accuracy. These results suggest that children who adopt environmental-based reference frames when depicting their familiar environment may also use environmental-based reference frame strategies to solve spatial perception tasks, thereby facilitating highly accurate performance.
在水位任务（一种常见的空间感知测量方法）上取得成功，需要采用以环境为中心而非以物体为中心的空间参照系。在青春期前儿童（这是一个空间能力个体差异开始显现的发育阶段）中，尚未对这种策略的使用进行系统研究。在本研究中，8至11岁的儿童报告了他们的年龄和性别，完成了一项纸笔水位任务，并绘制了他们社区的地图，以评估空间参照系的自发选择。结果显示，在水位任务表现上，年龄或性别差异惊人地不明显，但空间参照系有显著影响。尽管绘制以环境为中心地图的儿童在样本中只占一小部分，但他们的水位得分最高，准确性也非常高。这些结果表明，在描绘熟悉环境时采用基于环境的参照系的儿童，也可能使用基于环境的参照系策略来解决空间感知任务，从而促进高度准确的表现。
