Young Children’s Representation of Locations in a Series: A Front-Back Representation or an Ordinal Representation?
Previous research has found that 3–5-year-old children could encode and retrieve a target location in a two-location series. In a paradigm of running two symmetrical railcars on a circular track, the study suggested that children used front-back array to help coding. That is, children at this age co...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01327/full |
| _version_ | 1818200523734515712 |
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| author | Qingfen Hu Yuejia Fu Yi Shao |
| author_facet | Qingfen Hu Yuejia Fu Yi Shao |
| author_sort | Qingfen Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Previous research has found that 3–5-year-old children could encode and retrieve a target location in a two-location series. In a paradigm of running two symmetrical railcars on a circular track, the study suggested that children used front-back array to help coding. That is, children at this age code the railcar running in the front of another as “the location in the front” and the railcar running in the back of another as “the location in the back.” However, the children’s success could be attributed to an alternative interpretation; using an ordinal representation to encode the location in front as the first with the other as the second. The current study used a four-location series to examine the children’s mental representation. Three- to five-year-old children participated in a hide-and-seek game to remember a target location out of four locations that moved in a series. The results showed salient individual differences in children’s representation, and their performance improved as the representation progressed. An ordinal representation supported the precise encoding of each location, while a vague front-back representation and a clearer front-middle-back representation led to different performance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T02:39:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-963ef186f5474d23ab7abcd0701a314e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T02:39:01Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-963ef186f5474d23ab7abcd0701a314e2022-12-22T00:41:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-06-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.01327502880Young Children’s Representation of Locations in a Series: A Front-Back Representation or an Ordinal Representation?Qingfen Hu0Yuejia Fu1Yi Shao2Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaFaculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Psychology, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, OK, United StatesPrevious research has found that 3–5-year-old children could encode and retrieve a target location in a two-location series. In a paradigm of running two symmetrical railcars on a circular track, the study suggested that children used front-back array to help coding. That is, children at this age code the railcar running in the front of another as “the location in the front” and the railcar running in the back of another as “the location in the back.” However, the children’s success could be attributed to an alternative interpretation; using an ordinal representation to encode the location in front as the first with the other as the second. The current study used a four-location series to examine the children’s mental representation. Three- to five-year-old children participated in a hide-and-seek game to remember a target location out of four locations that moved in a series. The results showed salient individual differences in children’s representation, and their performance improved as the representation progressed. An ordinal representation supported the precise encoding of each location, while a vague front-back representation and a clearer front-middle-back representation led to different performance.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01327/fullfront-back arrayordinal relationlocation encodingintrinsic reference framepreschool children |
| spellingShingle | Qingfen Hu Yuejia Fu Yi Shao Young Children’s Representation of Locations in a Series: A Front-Back Representation or an Ordinal Representation? Frontiers in Psychology front-back array ordinal relation location encoding intrinsic reference frame preschool children |
| title | Young Children’s Representation of Locations in a Series: A Front-Back Representation or an Ordinal Representation? |
| title_full | Young Children’s Representation of Locations in a Series: A Front-Back Representation or an Ordinal Representation? |
| title_fullStr | Young Children’s Representation of Locations in a Series: A Front-Back Representation or an Ordinal Representation? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Young Children’s Representation of Locations in a Series: A Front-Back Representation or an Ordinal Representation? |
| title_short | Young Children’s Representation of Locations in a Series: A Front-Back Representation or an Ordinal Representation? |
| title_sort | young children s representation of locations in a series a front back representation or an ordinal representation |
| topic | front-back array ordinal relation location encoding intrinsic reference frame preschool children |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01327/full |
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