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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 25, 2026

Measuring the Functional Abilities of Children Aged 3-6 Years Old with Observational Methods and Computer Tools

Measuring the Functional Abilities of Children Aged 3-6 Years Old with Observational Methods and Computer Tools

Published on: June 20, 2020

Labels affect preschoolers' tool-based scale errors.

Samuel B Hunley¹, Erin R Hahn¹

¹Department of Psychology, Furman University, Greenville, SC 29613, USA.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

|March 2, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Labels increase scale errors in young children

Keywords:

Action Artifacts Cognitive development Labeling Language Scale errors Tool use

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Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking IPL: Investigating Language Comprehension in Typically Developing Toddlers and Young Children with Autism

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Published on: December 14, 2012

Area of Science:

Cognitive Development
Developmental Psychology
Language Acquisition

Background:

Scale errors are action-based errors where children attempt to use an inappropriately sized object.
Understanding the factors influencing scale errors provides insight into the interplay of perception, action, and language in early development.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of linguistic cues (labels) on children's scale errors when using tools.
To determine if labels exacerbate scale errors by focusing attention on object properties.

Main Methods:

Children aged 2-3 years participated in a tool-use task involving novel tools and apparatus.
The presence or absence of labels for the tools was manipulated across trials.
Children's tool choices were recorded to assess scale error rates.

Main Results:

Scale errors decreased over trials when tools were unlabeled.
When tools were labeled, scale errors remained high in the second trial.
Linguistic cues appear to sustain action-based errors.

Conclusions:

Language, specifically labels, can influence and potentially worsen action-based scale errors in young children.
Findings suggest that linguistic information can override perceptual-motor adjustments in early development.
This research highlights the significant role of language in shaping children's behavior and error patterns.