Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Spatial self-reference systems and shortest-route behavior in toddlers

J J Rieser, M L Heiman

    Child Development
    |April 1, 1982
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    Related Concept Videos

    You might also read

    Related Articles

    Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

    Sort by
    Same author

    Ghrelin.

    Molecular metabolism·2015
    Same author

    Physiology: does gut hormone PYY3-36 decrease food intake in rodents?

    Nature·2004
    Same author

    Chronic central infusion of cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART 55-102): effects on body weight homeostasis in lean and high-fat-fed obese rats.

    International journal of obesity and related metabolic disorders : journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity·2002
    Same author

    Weight gain decreases elevated plasma ghrelin concentrations of patients with anorexia nervosa.

    European journal of endocrinology·2001
    Same author

    Rodent obesity models: an overview.

    Experimental and clinical endocrinology & diabetes : official journal, German Society of Endocrinology [and] German Diabetes Association·2001
    Same author

    Absence of cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript results in obesity in mice fed a high caloric diet.

    Endocrinology·2001
    Same journal

    Timing and type of domestic violence exposure and adolescents' experiences of peer violence.

    Child development·2026
    Same journal

    Comprehension of "can" predicts performance on a nonverbal measure of modal concepts at 48 but not 36 months.

    Child development·2026
    Same journal

    An associative learning account of how saliva becomes a cue for comfort.

    Child development·2026
    Same journal

    If moms do it, it can't be that important: Children's reasoning about gender disparities in domestic work.

    Child development·2026
    Same journal

    Adapting under stress: How sociocultural stress intensity and fluctuation shape youth school engagement and internalizing symptoms.

    Child development·2026
    Same journal

    Children across diverse societies exchange reasons to resolve disagreements.

    Child development·2026
    See all related articles

    Toddlers in their second year of life can track hidden objects by using self-movement cues. Even without landmarks, 14- and 18-month-olds can infer the shortest path to a target location.

    Area of Science:

    • Developmental Psychology
    • Cognitive Science
    • Spatial Navigation

    Background:

    • Spatial orientation is crucial for navigating environments.
    • Understanding how infants develop spatial abilities is key to cognitive development research.
    • Previous research has explored landmark-based navigation, but less is known about self-movement-based spatial updating in early development.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate the development of spatial orientation in toddlers during their second year of life.
    • To examine toddlers' ability to use self-movement information to track hidden objects without landmarks.
    • To determine if toddlers can make spatial inferences about optimal routes to a hidden target.

    Main Methods:

    • Two experiments were conducted with 14- and 18-month-old infants.

    Related Experiment Videos

  • Experiment 1 assessed the precision of using self-movement direction and magnitude to maintain target location awareness.
  • Experiment 2 evaluated toddlers' capacity for inferring the shortest path to a hidden target based on experienced travel routes.

    • Main Results:

    • Toddlers' search behavior, while imprecise, demonstrated modulation based on the direction and magnitude of self-movement.
    • 18-month-olds and a subset of 14-month-olds successfully performed spatial inferences to determine the shortest route to a hidden target.
    • These findings suggest an emerging ability in toddlers to mentally represent and update spatial information.

    Conclusions:

    • Toddlers develop sophisticated spatial orientation skills in their second year of life.
    • Infants can utilize self-movement cues for spatial updating and can infer optimal paths, indicating early spatial reasoning abilities.
    • Further research is needed to fully elucidate the developmental mechanisms underlying these spatial competencies.