Complex spatial decisions involve the ability to combine featural and spatial information in a scene. In the present work, 4- through 9-year-old children completed a complex map-scene correspondence task under baseline and supported conditions. Children compared a photographed scene with a correct map and with map-foils that made salient an object feature or spatial property. Map-scene matches were analyzed for the effects of age and featural-spatial information on children’s selections. In both conditions children significantly favored maps that highlighted object detail and object perspective rather than color, landmark, and metric elements. Children’s correct performance did not differ by age and was suboptimal, but their ability to choose correct maps improved significantly when contextual support was provided. Strategy variability was prominent for all age groups, but at age 9 with support children were more likely to give up their focus on features and transition to the use of spatial strategies. These findings suggest the possibility of a U-shaped curve for children’s development of geometric knowledge: geometric coding is predominant early on, diminishes for a time in middle childhood in favor of a preference for features, and then reemerges along with the more advanced abilities to combine featural and spatial information.
The capacity to establish correspondence between a map and a scene involves information processing across multiple dimensions that incorporate object features (e.g., color or detail), categorical and fine-grained spatial coding (e.g., left or right of a landmark or metric distances), and array configuration (e.g., whole-scene arrangements). For instance, to establish map-scene correspondence, it is not enough to identify a red barn in both a map and a scene (object feature match), if the red barn is located on the left side of a fence in the map and on the right side of a fence in the scene (spatial category mismatch). Similarly, to establish correspondence, it is not enough to locate a red barn on the right side of a fence in both the map and the scene (spatial category match), if the red barn is represented in the map as located close to the fence and distant from the tree, but in the scene it is located close to the tree and distant from the fence (fine-grained coding mismatch). Further, to establish geometric correspondence, there must be a link between the holistic spatial relations of items in the map and the holistic spatial relations of items in the scene (map-scene match). Whether layout items are pictorially represented or symbolized in iconic line drawings (which often display visual feature mismatches), featural-spatial integration is ultimately necessary to determine correct map-scene correspondence.
Although in the course of ordinary human development it may appear that the ability to combine featural and spatial information transpires smoothly, research has shown that children initially demonstrate knowledge of object features and spatial properties separately [
In contrast to the experiments with very young children, several developmental studies indicate that school-aged children, who already have considerable experience in the world and are learning to use multiple sources of information, become more attracted to the nonspatial features of objects than to strategies that depend on the geometry of a space. These studies suggest that on a variety of spatial decision-making tasks children may show that they prefer to rely on features rather than locations. For instance, on an object-search task, 3-year-old children’s early preference for spatial information reverses and children favor feature-based strategies [
Yet, in order to make decisions about map-scene correspondence, it is necessary to acquire the ability to combine information about the features of objects and the spatial relations of objects, despite the fact that nonspatial and spatial information often compete for attention. Error patterns may arise due to the separate advancement of information about the featural identities of objects and the configural relations of objects. If children’s attention becomes captured predominately by the features of objects, their representations of spatial information may get skewed such that intermediary internal representations give rise to incorrect spatial strategies [
The ability to represent spatial information has been traditionally studied in connection with age-dependent developmental capacities. Piaget and Inhelder [
The present study probed 4- through 9-year-old children’s understanding of featural and spatial relations via their choice of the best map to depict a provided scene. The choice of symbolic representations (i.e., maps and photographs) to test strategy shifts in development was based on the theoretical idea that photographs and map representations can provide a “big picture” perspective on spatial relations of the environment that is not as readily available in direct navigational experience [
Forty-eight children were recruited from Boston metropolitan area daycare centers and elementary schools in culturally and socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods. One child was excluded due to procedural error. Forty-seven children (29 boys, 18 girls) were tested: age 4 (
Ten stimulus sets were created. Each set consisted of a photographed scene (see Figure
Example of a photographed indoor scene used in a stimulus set.
Example of the four map options that corresponded to the indoor scene used in the stimulus set example. Beginning top left and moving clockwise, the map choices are
Each stimulus set contained one map that correctly depicted spatial relations of the scene elements and three maps that did not preserve the correct spatial relations of the scene but were designed as foils to systematically make salient one of five featural or spatial components that are known to attract the young child’s spatial representational activities [
Each child was tested individually in the school environment. After greeting the child, the experimenter introduced the task by stating that they would be playing a map matching game. Practice trials were conducted to ensure that the child was familiarized with the materials and instructions in the task. The experimenter asked if the child knew what a map was and closed with the statement “maps are drawings of places that show us where things are in exactly the right places.”
A photographed scene was placed on the table and shown to the child. The experimenter instructed the child to look carefully at all of the things in the picture. A map group was then placed next to the photograph and the child was told the following: “one of these maps (pointing to each of four map choices in turn) is the right map for this place (pointing to the photograph). It shows where things are in the right places. Can you show me which map is the right map for this place?” This procedure was repeated for each of the 10 map-scene stimulus sets. Children were permitted to move the maps and the photographed scene. Questions were answered truthfully, but no information was given disclosing spatial information or information about the correctness of a choice. Thus, children arrived at responses that were unmediated. The order of presentation was counterbalanced across participants. The experimenter recorded each child’s individual response on each trial as either the color map (c), the detail map (d), the perspective map (p), the landmark map (l), the metric map (m), or the correct map (r).
Participants from the baseline condition went into the support condition in order to explore whether contextual support (i.e., scaffolding, whereby experienced persons (e.g., adults) provide assistance to inexperienced persons (e.g., children) with the aim of helping them to master more complex tasks than they could achieve alone [
Children were tested several days after baseline sessions and under the same conditions. The task was reintroduced, and children were told that this time the experimenter would give hints for how to pick the right map. Practice instructions explained the “tricks” that made three maps wrong and the correct correspondences in the fourth map. During test trials the experimenter asked questions that highlighted spatial relations and that elicited a child’s self-explanation, which is a known facilitator of cognitive development [
A one-way ANOVA was conducted on the number of correct map responses, with age in years (4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, and 9-year-olds) as the independent variable. When results were split across years, no effect of age was found (
Data were then examined to determine children’s differential strategy preferences for complex map-scene correspondence when age was excluded as a factor. That is, children’s map selections were examined to ascertain how frequently each strategy was chosen, yielding
Baseline and support percentage scores compared to chance (“0”). The dash line shows percentage score changes from baseline to support.
A 2 × 6 (condition × age) between-subjects ANOVA was conducted on correct responses and revealed no significant main effects of condition or age in years and no interaction effects (
Data were then analyzed to determine children’s differential strategy preferences when age was excluded as a factor, yielding
Additional chi-square tests were conducted to compare strategy choices, regardless of age, between baseline and supported conditions. Significant differences were found for correct maps, color, and landmark,
Because results above indicated that the static ability to choose correct map responses did not differ significantly by age, a focus on correct responses was eliminated. Yet, as children’s learning is always in flux, questions remained about how much variation there might be in children’s use of intermediary featural-spatial components at different ages. In order to further evaluate the variability of spatial trajectories between children, a “featural-spatial strategy shift score” was calculated as a measure of microdevelopmental change in the distribution of strategy usage between baseline and support conditions. Shifted scores were computed as the numerical difference between the number of each strategy choice made in the supported condition and the number of each strategy choice made in the baseline condition across the 10 trials. Then, negative scores were assigned to the category “shifted to features,” scores of “0” were assigned to the category “unchanged,” and positive scores were assigned to the category “shifted to spatial relations.” Overall, results showed that 41% of children’s responses shifted toward features, 13% of children’s responses remained unchanged, and 46% of children’s responses shifted toward spatial relations. Chi-square tests conducted on children’s featural-spatial shift categories by age in years indicated significant differences in all shift categories for all ages,
Featural-spatial strategy shifts from baseline to support by age in years.
These findings are in agreement with variability research [
Microgenetic analysis was used to measure within-child learning pathways by comparing each child’s trial-by-trial performance in baseline and support conditions. Data showed that children displayed a dynamic process of variability in completing this complex spatial task. Results indicated that some children who benefited from contextual support showed orderly, stepwise improvement (see Figure
Examples of individual strategy change trajectories from baseline (blue lines) to support (orange lines) in which children benefitted comparably from support. (a) shows a strategy change pathway that was orderly. (b) and (c) show fluctuations in strategy change pathways, but they varied in different ways.
Further analysis underscored the notion that featural-spatial reorganization is subject to developmental variability. For instance, children of the same age often showed very different degrees of change (see Figures
Examples of individual trajectories of strategy change from baseline to support. (a) and (b) show children of the same age who demonstrated very different degrees of change. (c) and (d) show children of different ages who demonstrated the same degree of change.
Thus, these learning curves for frequency of strategy choices revealed featural-spatial developmental path diversity that was unidentifiable by standard comparisons that used age and correct map responses as variables.
Based on ingrained traditional models, some improvement in correct map responses across age was anticipated, especially between the youngest and oldest groups; however, contrary to expectations, no reliable age differences were found at baseline. This result was particularly remarkable for older children who often mapped incorrectly and preferred featural information even though they are traditionally considered to be at a later stage of development in which they have established more complex skills. Consistent with newer research, baseline results showed that children’s performance across middle childhood significantly favored featural strategies over spatial strategies. Specifically, children relied heavily on object details (first) and object perspectives (second), children systematically avoided landmark or metric elements and correct spatial relations, and children were comparatively neutral about color as a relevant attribute. Baseline findings suggested that children’s correct performance on this complex spatial decision-making task was suboptimal and that the ability to combine featural and spatial information that is needed to judge correct maps did not advance significantly across the 4- to 9-year-old age range.
With support, children remained significantly attracted to object details and perspectives, yet their spatial strategy use and correct responses tended to improve. Specifically, although age did not predict correct responses, it was at 9 years of age that children showed a statistically significant transition from the use of featural strategies to spatial strategies. This suggests that many 9-year-olds possessed knowledge potential that they were able to demonstrate when provided with additional scaffolding support. These results are consistent with prior research that found a shift at age 9 in processing fine-grained and categorical combinations [
Further, the present microgenetic design provided an opportunity to observe change while it was happening. Trial-by-trial analysis uncovered several microlevel changes that may be understood as transitions in children’s spatial thinking and skill acquisition. Investigation of within-child strategy change showed that children who benefited from support learned in distinct ways. For example, children who demonstrated the same degree of change from baseline to support followed a developmental path of fluctuations marked by strong individual variability. These results provide evidence against claims that there is a universal sequence to learning. Further comparison of within-child microdevelopment found that children’s patterns of strategy change varied independently of age. In particular, findings indicated that degree of change was often dissimilar for children of the same age and similar for children of different ages.
The present research contributes to the developmental literature by moving beyond emergence of spatial skills in infants and very young children to the study of complex featural-spatial integration during middle childhood. Present results suggest that, between the ages of 4 and 9 years old, complex maps and scenes challenge children’s spatial skills. These difficulties might surprise many parents and teachers who expect children to reason relatively competently about their spatial environment. The current work suggests that one challenge centers on the need to combine feature and spatial compositional elements, which places substantial demands on children’s ability to reason about multiple variables that have high levels of relational and symbolic complexity.
The main finding of the present study was that salient object detail and object perspectives were features in scenes that markedly enticed children and that were used significantly more than spatial factors to make choices about map-scene correspondence. This study provides evidence that, across middle childhood, children’s featural-spatial strategy choices under complex conditions do not appear to proceed along an age-based trajectory but rather cluster around salient intermediary strategies such as object details and perspectives. Several possible explanations can be proposed for these results. One simple account of featural preferences is that the salient feature captured children’s attention and they did not code the entire array. A related explanation is that children did not inspect the line drawings but rather sought the iconicity constraints that preserved a stronger resemblance to perceptual features. Children’s prominent use of
Additional findings were based on comparison of performance under baseline and supported conditions, which can help to flesh out the complexities of children’s featural-spatial development. The findings clarified that, although age did not predict correct map-scene matches, correct responses for the whole group improved significantly over baseline performance when scaffolding support was provided. Furthermore, analysis revealed that whereas children across the age range relied heavily on featural details and perspective rather than on spatial factors, 9-year-olds’ attraction to features began to shift and they were significantly more likely to select maps based on spatial strategies when provided with scaffolding support. Lastly, trial-by-trial analysis indicated that children regardless of age used all the various featural and spatial strategies across testing, demonstrating unique and individual fluctuations in intermediary spatial strategy decisions. In order to update the traditional, linear age-based trajectory and evolve it to a more realistic model of spatial development, it is important to recognize that children are inconsistent and that complex cognitive reorganization involves progression and regression between featural and spatial information. In further research, it would be relevant to refine the complexity and accessibility of stimuli, to gather data on substantial numbers of children, and to compare sex differences in performance.
The present study suggests that when maps are complex and require the ability to combine multiple sources of featural-spatial information, map accuracy across middle childhood does not proceed along an age-based trajectory but rather clusters around salient nonspatial features such as object details and object perspectives. When children are provided with scaffolding support, correct performance improves significantly. Amidst strong strategy variability overall, microdevelopmental analysis suggests that at 9 years of age with support children can begin to give up their attraction to features and shift toward spatial relations strategies. Taken together with studies showing that young children are predisposed to geometric sensitivity, the present paper suggests that children’s development of geometric correspondence between a map and a scene may best be characterized by a U-shaped curve in which geometric coding is predominant early on, diminishes for a time in middle childhood in favor of a preference for object features, and then reemerges along with the more advanced abilities to combine featural and spatial information.
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.
The authors thank the children who participated in this study and the schools that supported it. They are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for very helpful comments and suggestions.