Uttal D, Schreiber J C, DeLoache J S
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA.
Child Dev. 1995 Dec;66(6):1875-89.
To use a symbol to solve a problem, children must achieve representational insight; they must realize that the symbol stands for its referent. Moreover, they must keep this relation in mind as they attempt to use the symbol. The present studies investigated the achievement and maintenance of representational insight. 3-year-olds were asked to use a scale model of a room to find a toy hidden in the room. In Study 1a, children first watched as a small toy was hidden in the model. They then waited either 20 sec, 2 min, or 5 min before attempting to find a similar, larger toy that was hidden in the corresponding place in the room. All children experienced all delay intervals; three groups experienced the delays in different orders. There was a dramatic effect of delay order. The children who experienced the 20-sec delay on their first trial generally performed well throughout the 6 trials, but the children who experienced a 5-min delay first almost always failed to find the toy in the room even on subsequent trials with shorter delays. Additional studies revealed that the negative effects of the initial long delay could be overcome by providing reminders of the model and its relevance (Studies 2 and 3) or giving children prior experience in using the model (Study 4). The results indicate that keeping a symbol-referent relation in mind can be difficult for 3.0-year-old children. This research is discussed in terms of the importance of maintaining representational insight.
为了使用一个符号来解决问题，儿童必须获得表征洞察力；他们必须意识到这个符号代表着它所指代的事物。此外，在试图使用这个符号时，他们必须牢记这种关系。目前的研究调查了表征洞察力的获得与保持。研究人员要求3岁的儿童使用一个房间的比例模型来寻找藏在房间里的玩具。在研究1a中，孩子们首先看到一个小玩具被藏在模型里。然后，他们在尝试寻找藏在房间相应位置的类似的、更大的玩具之前，分别等待20秒、2分钟或5分钟。所有孩子都经历了所有的延迟间隔；三组孩子以不同的顺序经历这些延迟。延迟顺序产生了显著的影响。在第一次试验中经历20秒延迟的孩子在整个6次试验中通常表现良好，但第一次经历5分钟延迟的孩子几乎总是找不到房间里的玩具，即使在随后延迟较短的试验中也是如此。进一步的研究表明，通过提供模型及其相关性的提示（研究2和3）或让孩子有使用模型的先前经验（研究4），可以克服最初长时间延迟的负面影响。结果表明，对于3岁的儿童来说，牢记符号与所指代事物的关系可能是困难的。本文从保持表征洞察力的重要性方面对这项研究进行了讨论。
