Representational momentum and children's sensori‐motor representations of objects

Abstract

Recent research has shown that 2-year-olds fail at a task that ostensibly only requires the ability to understand that solid objects cannot pass through other solid objects. Two experiments were conducted in which 2- and 3-year-olds judged the stopping point of an object as it moved at varying speeds along a path and behind an occluder, stopping at a barrier visible above the occluder. Three-year-olds were able to take into account the barrier when searching for the object, while 2-year-olds were not. However, both groups judged faster moving objects to travel farther as indicated by their incorrect reaches. Thus, the results show that young children's sensori-motor representations exhibit a form of representational momentum. This unifies the perceptually based representations of early childhood with adults' dynamic representations that incorporate physical regularities but that are also available to conscious reasoning.

Aligning body and world: Stable reference frames improve young children’s search for hidden objects

“…This procedure takes great pains to draw attention to the information relevant to solving the ramp task; however, the procedure involves lots of verbal instruction as the experimenter moves different parts of the apparatus around. Recently, Perry and colleagues (2008) used only four open-door training trials and did not report any detriment to either 2- or 3-year-olds’ search accuracy. Thus, in Experiment 2, we implemented a new, shortened familiarization phase.…”

“…For instance, in some versions of the ramp task, children must get up off a chair and walk to a table before reaching for a specific door (e.g. Perry, Smith, & Hockema, 2008). This requires coordinating movements of the body—eyes, head, arms, legs—with visuo-spatial information in the task space specifying the location of the target door (Keen & Berthier, 2004).…”

“…1, each door had a small piece of Velcro above the knob, and several small plastic lights around its surface. The appartus had been previously used in other studies (Thelen & Whitmyer, 2004, and Perry et al, 2008) and these details had been used to manipulate visual saliency and extra cues. Because these details were present in both of our experimental conditions any effect that these details might have on children’s spatial memory should be equal for both conditions.…”

Preschoolers search for hidden objects

“…The effect of “training” trials was also seen in Perry, et al (2008). In that study, which used an apparatus and search task very similar to ours, children were exposed to the ball moving at different speeds.…”

“…Three-year-olds were tested because of their experience and depth of knowledge about solidity and how objects interact with one another (Keen, et al, 2008; Perry, Smith, & Hockema, 2008). Children were required to find a ball that rolled down a ramp when contact-mechanical and spatio-temporal information disagreed.…”