Imagery and Perceptual Basis of Matching Tasks in Young Children

Abstract

Object identification in perceptual tests may include constituents of mental rotation. A matching-to-sample task was conducted with same or different objects to look for evidence of rotation. Elementary schoolchildren (6 to 8 years old) in Grades 1 to 4 (N = 264) participated, using the inclined Flags Test and the Water Level Test to ensure that children can use kinematic imagery for the Flags Test even if they used static imagery for the Water Level Test. Performance on the inclined Flags Test varied by age group. Use of implicit mental rotation of the inclined object was inferred in recognition. Also, children at the pre-operational stage showed a rotational effect, i.e., they could transform the object by turning it, thereby confirming kinematic imagery is used from age 6. As a consequence, solving both rotation tasks may require not only recognition of object frames but also objects internal to the frame.