Looking and search measures of object knowledge in preschool children

BM Hood, VR Cole-Davies, ML Dias

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

85 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The same preschoolers were tested on an observation task and a search task involving the invisible displacement of an object. In the observation task, children watched an object roll behind a screen from which protruded the top of a solid wall. Analyses revealed significantly longer looking to impossible than to possible outcomes in all children. In search, the child was allowed to retrieve the rolled object. Most 3-year-olds but significantly fewer 2.5-year-olds completed the search successfully. An unexpected sex difference was found, with boys outperforming girls. Search performance was not associated with observation measures. The findings indicate that children visually discriminate violations of solidity but that this sensitivity is not associated with successful search performance.
Translated title of the contributionLooking and search measures of object knowledge in preschool children
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)61 - 70
Number of pages10
JournalDevelopmental Psychology
Volume39 (1)
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2003

Bibliographical note

Publisher: American Psychological Association

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