To better identify the distinctive characteristics of space representation in the radial dimension, we have proposed a new paradigm: the landmarks alignment task where two parallel aluminum bars were radially presented. Children had to move a landmark along one bar and place it at the same location as the reference landmark placed by the examiner…

The hypothesis that perceptual development proceeds from less to greater dimensional separability was tested by giving a speeded classification task to first and fourth graders. Results supported the hypothesis that development proceeds toward greater flexibility of attention rather than simply toward increasing separability. (Author/DB)

The developmental change from global toward dimensional classifications, usually observed in vision, was investigated in haptics with stimuli varying according to their size and roughness. Results indicated that, although more overall similarity classifications were observed in children than in adults, this kind of classification was never…

Color and form preferences of kindergarten, first and third grade Ss were tested using standard two-dimensional geometric forms. (Author)

As children grow older they show an increasing preference for classifying objects on the basis of shape rather than color. To clarify the nature of this "dimension preference," children of ages 3 1/2 to 6 1/2 years were given a method of triads test of dimension preferences, followed (after a week's delay) by a component selection task. The most…

In the course of two experiments, groups of kindergarten, second, fourth, sixth grade and college students received several discrimination problems to investigate hypothesis testing behavior. (Authors/MB)

The study reported here examined the use of color terms by 36 male and female students in kindergarten through fifth grade in a suburban New York City school. The children were asked to label colors using the fanciest color term they could. The only significant difference found was between younger females and older females, tentatively indicating…

Developmental changes in the encoding of unfamiliar faces was studied in three experiments with Australian 7- to 12-year-old children (N=24 in experiment 1, N=48 in experiment 2, and N=32 in experiment 3). Results showed that younger children encoded unfamiliar faces in terms of striking isolated features and that avoidant children made more…

Investigated degree to which two shape dimensions were represented categorically by children and adults when learning object names. Found that adults accepted names more often to objects that fell within proposed shape boundaries than to objects that crossed boundaries. Children were just as likely to generalize names to novel objects that fell…

Evaluates the efficacy of two training procedures for eliminating selective stimulus control observed with three trainable mentally retarded children. In another experiment, improvements in stimulus control were not a function of varying degrees of difficulty between stimulus sets or of a prior history of discrimination training with the less…

Describes two experiments conducted to explain why retarded children of younger mental age appear to be more selective on discrimination tasks containing relevant redundant cues than do children of older mental age. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the latter group of children are overselective because they tend to solve…

Two experiments explored the nature of perceptual development in 5- and 10-year olds and adults. The primary finding was that preassessed salience significantly influenced 5-year olds' ability to discriminate two objects, while salience did not affect 10-year olds' or adults' response times. Results showed that salience effects in perceptual…

Abnormalities of colour perception in children with autistic spectrum disorders have been widely reported anecdotally. However, there is little empirical data linking difficulties in colour perception with academic achievement. The Wilkins Rate of Reading Test was administered with and without "Intuitive Coloured Overlays" to 19 children with…

A gender gap between boys and girls has been reported in computer usage. Graphics may play a role in bridging that gap because of their motivational value. The literature reports gender differences regarding graphic content, color, detail, size, and movement. Based on these findings, preliminary design guidelines for graphics in computer-based…