Young children's representation of geometric relationships between locations in location coding

From an early age, children are able to use surface layout geometry and landmarks to search for a hidden toy when disoriented. Theoretical debate remains regarding whether children represent locations based on the global environment or on local cues. Exploring whether children construct and use the relationships between discrete locations of the global environment can provide direct evidence regarding this issue. We investigated young children's representation of two geometric relationships: diagonal relationships (Experiment 1) and same-side relationships (Experiment 2). Children (4- and 5-year-olds) were tested in a square room with a distinctively colored wall. Children completed two tasks. In a two-location task, children watched two toys hidden in two corners that formed one of the two relationships. After disorientating children, the experimenter uncovered one toy and children searched for the other one (target). In a one-location task, only one toy was hidden. In both experiments, children's performance was better in the two-location task than in the one-location task. Furthermore, accuracy in the two-location task of Experiment 1, in which the two corners formed a diagonal relationship, was higher than that of Experiment 2, in which the two corners formed a same-side relationship and a correct location required the combination of this relationship and landmark. These findings suggest that at least by 4 years of age, children can construct geometric relationships between individual corners in their spatial representation and support the global accounts of young children's location coding.