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Young children make scale errors when playing with dolls.

Elizabeth A Ware1, David H Uttal, Emily K Wetter

  • 1Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA. e-ware@northwestern.edu

Developmental Science
|February 1, 2006
PubMed
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Children sometimes make scale errors, attempting to use objects that are too small. This study found children also make scale errors with dolls, showing size perception errors extend beyond direct body interaction.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Action Planning

Background:

  • 18- to 30-month-old children exhibit scale errors, attempting to fit their bodies into miniature objects.
  • Previous research focused on scale errors involving the child's own body.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if scale errors extend to actions involving a doll and inappropriately sized objects.
  • To determine if visual information about object size influences action decisions in scale errors.

Main Methods:

  • Children were presented with a doll and miniature objects (e.g., chair, bed).
  • Participants' actions with the doll and objects were observed to identify scale errors.

Main Results:

  • A significant number of children attempted to fit the doll into or onto the miniature objects.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Scale errors were observed even when the size discrepancy was between two objects (doll and furniture).

    • Conclusions:

    • Scale errors are not limited to actions directly involving the child's body.
    • Findings support the hypothesis that scale errors occur when visual size information fails to guide action planning.
    • The study highlights the role of visual information in controlling actions and object interaction.