Preschoolers' Understanding of Simple Object Transformations

Abstract

The ability of 3- and 4-year-old children to reason about the components of event sequences involving simple transformations was tested in 2 experiments. In Experient I children saw picture "stories" of the form object, instrument, and transformed object, with 1 item deleted. They filled in the missing position from 3 choice cards. Children in both groups correctly filled in all positions and therefore could: (1) predict the transformed state of an object, (2) retrieve the initial state of an object, and (3) understand the implicit actions that mediate 2 object states. This was true for transformations that (1) either altered or restored an object, and (2) represented familiar or unusual events. In Experiment II only the instrument item was deleted. Children demonstrated an ability to represent reciprocal transformations (e.g., break-fix); they chose the 2 of 4 instruments that altered and restored the same object. The younger children were less able to describe the events and found it somewhat easier to reason about transformations that altered objects.

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