Mendelson M J
Child Dev. 1984 Oct;55(5):1789-98.
Students in grades 2, 4, 6, and college sorted abstract visual patterns that varied both in amount of contour and in the type of visual organization (unstructured, simple symmetries, multiple symmetries, and rotational organization). The subjects were told to put the patterns into rows so that all the patterns in a row were "alike in some way," with no limits placed either on the number of rows or on the number of patterns in a row. Second graders sorted mainly on the basis of amount of contour and less so with reference to multiple types of visual organization. Fourth and sixth graders used contour as a sorting criterion less than second graders; moreover, they sorted with reference to all types of visual structure. As a group, college students sorted exclusively on the basis of structure. The data were taken as evidence that children attend to both amount of contour and visual organization, but that attention to visual structure increases with age.
二年级、四年级、六年级的学生以及大学生对抽象视觉图案进行分类，这些图案在轮廓数量和视觉组织类型（无结构、简单对称、多重对称和旋转组织）上各不相同。受试者被要求将图案排成行，以便一行中的所有图案“在某种程度上相似”，对行数或一行中的图案数量没有限制。二年级学生主要根据轮廓数量进行分类，较少参照多种视觉组织类型。四年级和六年级学生将轮廓作为分类标准的情况比二年级学生少；此外，他们根据所有类型的视觉结构进行分类。作为一个群体，大学生完全根据结构进行分类。这些数据被视为证据，表明儿童既关注轮廓数量又关注视觉组织，但对视觉结构的关注随着年龄增长而增加。
