Distance distortions in children's cognitive maps: an examination of the information storage model

Second graders (mean age = 7-8), fourth graders (mean age = 9-8), and sixth graders (mean age = 11-11) walked two paths located in and around their school. Children in the Unsegmented condition estimated the distance and time taken to walk a path that was relatively undifferentiated in terms of the number of qualitatively different areas of the school through which it passed. Children in the Segmented condition made the same estimates for a path that went through different areas (segments) of the school (i.e., cafeteria, hall, vestibule, and outside the building). Children at all three grade levels estimated that the distance traversed in the Segmented condition was longer than the distance in the Unsegmented condition. This difference was not significant on the time measure. It was concluded that (1) paths with a large number of segments are perceived as being longer than paths of the same length with fewer segments, (2) distances along paths with few segments are underestimated, (3) distances along paths with many segments may be overestimated as a function of developmental level, and (4) only younger children may have used time to estimate distance.