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Published on: April 19, 2017
Development of intuitions about support beyond infancy.
1Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany. krist@uni-greifswald.de
Developmental Psychology
|January 8, 2010
Summary
Children
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Development
- Physics Intuition
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Infants demonstrate intuitive understanding of physical principles.
- Limited research exists on how this understanding develops in preschoolers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate intuitive knowledge of physical support in 3- to 6-year-old children.
- To determine developmental changes in understanding support beyond infancy.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments modeled after infant studies were conducted.
- Children predicted block stability on a platform or made perceptual judgments.
- Performance was assessed based on age and task context.
Main Results:
- Performance was strongly age-related and independent of task context.
- Sensitivity to contact area was high in 5- and 6-year-olds.
- Sensitivity to volume proportion over support was less developed, even in 6-year-olds.
Conclusions:
- Intuitive understanding of physical support develops significantly beyond infancy.
- Preschoolers, including kindergartners, have not fully developed this intuitive knowledge.
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