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International audienceTactile relief maps are used by visually impaired people to acquire mental representation of space, but they retain important limitations (limited amount of information, braille text, etc.). Interactive maps may overcome these limitations. However, usability of these two types of maps had never been compared. It is then unknown whether interactive maps are equivalent or even better solutions than traditional raised-line maps. This study presents a comparison of usability of a classical raised-line map vs. an interactive map composed by a multi-touch screen, a raised-line overlay and audio output. Both maps were tested by 24 blind participants. We measured usability as efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction. Our results show that replacing braille with simple audio-tactile interaction significantly improved efficiency and user satisfaction. Effectiveness was not related to the map type but depended on users' characteristics as well as the category of assessed spatial knowledge. Long-term evaluation of acquired spatial information revealed that maps, whether interactive or not, are useful to build robust survey-type mental representations in blind users. Altogether, these results are encouraging as they show that interactive maps are a good solution for improving map exploration and cognitive mapping in visually impaired people

This study compares the ability of children aged from 6 to II to freely produce emotional labels based on detailed scenarios (labelling task), and their ability to depict basic emotions in their human figure drawing (subsequent drawing task). This comparison assesses the relevance of the use of a human figure drawing task in order to test children's comprehension of basic emotions. Such a comparison has never been undertaken up to now, the two tasks being seen as belonging to relatively separate fields of investigation. Results indicate corresponding developmental patterns for both tasks and a clear-cut gap between simple emotions (happiness and sadness) and complex emotions (anger, fear, and disgust) in the ability to label and to depict basic emotions. These results suggest that a drawing task can be used to assess children's understanding of basic emotions. Results are discussed according to the development of perceptual skills and the development of emotion conceptualization.

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Food neophobia and picky/fussy eating behavior are presented as the two main forms of children's food rejections which are responsible for a reduction of their dietary repertoire. We review the key factors, presented in the literature, that are involved in food rejections during childhood. We first consider a range of "cognitive factors", such as food perception, mental representations, categorization of food items, and emotions and feelings toward food. Next we focus on "social and environmental factors", as these might also significantly influence and modulate children's food rejections. We then summarize the findings to provide a comprehensive view of the factors involved in children's food rejections. Finally, we discuss the need for future studies on food rejections, regarding (i) the distinction between food neophobia and picky/fussy eating, and (ii) the potential link between food categorization abilities and children's food neophobia and pickiness.

This study extends the findings that young infants prefer prosocial to antisocial others (Hamlin & Wynn, Cognitive Development 2011, 26, 30; Hamlin, Wynn, & Bloom, Nature 2007, 450, 557) to older infants (12–24 and 24–36 months) with a novel display. We presented infants with short cartoons in which a character (the “Protoganist”) engaged in a ball play with two others, one acting prosocially (the “Giver”), and the other antisocially (the “Keeper”). Afterward, infants were presented with the Giver and the Keeper characters and encouraged to reach for the one of their choices. We found that infants exhibited robust choice for the Giver. In addition, infants' preference for the Giver persisted despite changes in facial features (dark skin, scrambled face). These findings provide further evidence for infant's preference for prosociality.

International audienceFood rejection and food categorization are the hallmarks of the omnivore's dilemma, but little is known about the former's development or its relationship with the latter in children. We recruited 79 children aged 2–6 years and 30 adults to test the hypotheses that (i) children's food categorization starts to improve at 2 years, (ii) their food rejection is intrinsi-cally linked to development of the food categorization system, and (iii) food categorization relies mainly on color, which conveys information about food typicality. In a categorization task, participants were shown color photographs of fruit and vegetables, and asked to put items belonging to the same category in the same box. Results on accuracy indicated an age-related increase in food categorization performances, and provided the first empirical evidence speaking in favor of i) a relationship between children's food rejection and food categorization, and ii) the central role of color typicality in food categorization