How Do Symbols Affect 3- to 4-Year-Olds' Executive Function? Evidence from a Reverse-Contingency Task

Autor/inn/en	Apperly, Ian A.; Carroll, Daniel J.
Titel	How Do Symbols Affect 3- to 4-Year-Olds' Executive Function? Evidence from a Reverse-Contingency Task
Quelle	In: Developmental Science, 12 (2009) 6, S.1070-1082 (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1363-755X
DOI	10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00856.x
Schlagwörter	Photography; Food; Responses; Cognitive Processes; Games; Task Analysis; Primatology; Competition; Young Children; Numbers + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Fotografie; Lebensmittel; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Game; Spiel; Spiele; Aufgabenanalyse; Wettkampf; Frühe Kindheit; Zahlenraum
Abstract	In two experiments, 330 3- to 4-year-olds competed for stickers in a game in which the optimal response strategy was to point to an empty box that their opponent would receive in order to obtain a baited box for themselves. When the baited box contained stickers, children showed a strong tendency to point at the baited box and therefore lose the stickers to their opponent. In Experiment 1 children performed better when the number of stickers to be won was represented with one of five different types of symbol: numerals, number words, dots, a photograph or sweets. In Experiment 2 children transferred their improved performance in symbolic conditions to non-symbolic conditions. These findings suggest that symbols enable children to formulate an efficient response strategy, and that this effect may be qualitatively different in children from the effect of symbols in non-human primates. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley-Blackwell. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10