Geometric maps as tools for different purposes in early childhood

This study examined whether and how young children make spontaneous use of geometric maps for two different purposes: to determine and to represent the locations of objects. A total of 64 2.5-, 3-, 3.5-, and 4-year-old children solved a task with two phases in counterbalanced order; they needed to use a map to locate a toy hidden in a referent space (retrieval) and to indicate on the symbol with a sticker the location of the hidden toy (map making). Results show that there is a clear developmental progression, with 2.5-year-olds failing both phases, 3- and 3.5-year-olds succeeding only in the map making phase, and 4-year-olds succeeding in both the map making and retrieval phases. The differences between making use of maps to represent locations and locating objects in space allow for a closer comprehension of map reading as a progressive sequenced process and the factors at play as children develop symbolic understanding.