N. Newcombe et al., THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPATIAL LOCATION CODING - PLACE LEARNING AND DEAD RECKONING IN THE 2ND AND 3RD YEARS, Cognitive development, 13(2), 1998, pp. 185-200
There are two possible ways to code spatial location: viewer-reference
d and externally referenced systems. The mature form of each system ma
kes use of metric information (in forms of coding termed dead reckonin
g and place learning, respectively). Each system also exists in a simp
ler form not using metric information (termed response learning and cu
e learning, respectively). We report an experiment designed to examine
the development of the two mature forms of spatial coding. Children a
ged 16 to 36 months were asked to search for objects hidden in a long
rectangular sandbox, after they moved to the opposite side of the box,
either with visual landmarks available or in a curtained environment.
When moving in a curtained environment, and hence needing to rely pri
marily on dead reckoning, children across this age range performed at
levels above chance but reliably less accurate than when they did not
move. The size of the decrement due to movement did not decrease with
age. Thus, the dead reckoning system may become available before 16 mo
nths but undergo no further improvement through 3 years. On the other
hand, comparisons between children who moved in the curtained environm
ent and children who moved with visual landmarks available showed that
only children older than 21 months did better when external landmarks
could be seen. This finding suggests a relatively late emergence of p
lace learning.