| Abstract: | This study examines the early development of spatial pattern analysis and focuses on changes in the way that preschool children (3–5 yr olds) segment and integrate the parts of simple spatial forms. The results from each of the 3 experiments in this study show that young children analyze spatial patterns in ways that differ systematically from that of older children and adults. Changes with development were observed in the parts children segmented out of the forms and in the relations they used to organize the parts forming the overall pattern. The youngest children segmented out simple, well-formed, spatially independent parts and used simple relational structures to bind these parts together. With development, children constructed forms that included increasingly complex parts and relations. These findings were consistent across several different stimuli using 2 construction mediums. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
