Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

Published on: April 28, 2016

Developmental changes in memorial comparisons: the effects of stimulus presentation mode.

K P Wright¹, D B Berch

¹University of Cincinnati, OH 45221.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

|June 1, 1992

Summary

Children and college students judged object sizes from pictures or words, showing faster picture-based judgments. This study reveals a developmental decline in magnitude comparison slopes, contrary to prior assumptions about pictorial superiority.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Identification of a Preliminary Plasma Metabolome-based Biomarker for Circadian Phase in Humans.

Journal of biological rhythms·2021

Same author

Sleep duration and bone health measures in older men.

Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA·2020

Same author

Rapid suppression of bone formation marker in response to sleep restriction and circadian disruption in men.

Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA·2019

Same author

Association between objective sleep duration and bone mineral density in older postmenopausal women from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF).

Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA·2019

Same author

Role of sleep and circadian disruption on energy expenditure and in metabolic predisposition to human obesity and metabolic disease.

Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity·2017

Same author

Impaired endogenous fibrinolytic capacity in prehypertensive men.

Journal of human hypertension·2015

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Human Perception

Background:

The symbolic distance effect describes how judgments of difference are faster when the difference is larger.
Previous research suggested a developmental decline in the "pictorial superiority effect," where pictures are processed more efficiently than words.
This effect's developmental trajectory may be influenced by memory demands, not solely stimulus modality.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate age-related differences in comparative size judgments using both pictorial and word stimuli.
To examine the "symbolic distance effect" across different age groups (first graders, fifth graders, college students).
To clarify the role of stimulus modality and memory demands in the "pictorial superiority effect" during development.

Main Methods:

More Related Videos

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons

Published on: November 9, 2018

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Published on: May 12, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

Published on: April 28, 2016

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons

Published on: November 9, 2018

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Published on: May 12, 2019

Participants (first graders, fifth graders, college students) performed comparative size judgments on common objects presented as either line drawings or spoken names.
Stimulus presentation and response time intervals were carefully controlled to equate picture and word conditions.
The symbolic distance effect was measured by analyzing response times as a function of the difference in object size.

Main Results:

All age groups demonstrated the symbolic distance effect.
Object size judgments were consistently faster with pictures than with words, irrespective of age.
A significant age-related decline in the slopes of the symbolic distance functions was observed from first to fifth grade.

Conclusions:

The study provides the first evidence of an age-related decline in slopes for magnitude comparisons of concrete objects.
The "pictorial superiority effect" may not decline with age as previously thought, potentially due to confounding memory factors in earlier studies.
Developmental changes in cognitive processing influence how children and adults make magnitude judgments based on symbolic representations.