Teaching very young children the symbolic function of a map

PERALTA, OLGA; MAITA, MARÍA DEL ROSARIO

Boston

Congreso; Society for Research in Child Development. Biennial Meeting; 2007

Society for Research in Child Development

Teaching Very Young Children the Symbolic Function of a Map The general purpose of the present research was to study the development of early comprehension of symbolic objects, specifically the role of instruction in the understanding of maps. To use a map effectively it is necessary, first of all, to understand its symbolic function. Research has shown that as early as age 3 children begin to understand the symbolic relation between a map and the space it represents (e.g. Huttenlocher, Newcombe and Vasilyeva, 1999, Marzolf and DeLoache, 1994). The two studies presented here analyze the role that instruction plays in the symbolic understaning of maps. The studies employed a version of DeLoache‘s (1987) model task, where children have to use a map in order to find a toy in a small space furnished like a bedroom (95 x 80 x 65 cm). The map (21 x 29 cm) consisted in an aereal view of the room, its figures were simple outline shapes, no color was used. Participants were 60 children: 20 2.5-year-olds (M = 30 months), 20 3-year-olds (M = 36.4 months), and 20 3.5-year-olds (M = 42.3 months). The sample was mostly middle class. Study 1 compared the performance of 2.5 and 3 year-old children with explicit instruction: the experimenter not only provided information about the symbol-referent correspondence and about the intended function of the map, but also, when children failed, she corrected and taught them how to use the map. Study 2 examined at which age children are capable of understanding the symbolic function of a map completely on there own, that is, with no instruction at all. Analyses were carried out on the number of correct trials. Subjects were credited with a correct trial if they found the toy in their first search. Percentages are used throughout the text to facilitate communication and comparison. Results show that 2.5-years-old children successfully retrieved the toy only 12% of the time. This percentage reveals that this age children are not capable of appreciating the map-room relation in spite of the explicit instructions received. On the other hand, 3-years-old children successfully found the toy 68% of the trials; although most of these children did not succeed on the first search, they achieved representational insight after being explicitly taught how to use the map. With respect to 3.5-years-olds’ performance, the 71% achieved with no instruction shows that they were able to figure out completely on their own the map-room relation. To conclude, this research provides evidence that 3 year-old-children are just one step before reaching symbolic understanding of a simple map. Instruction about the object correspondences and the intended function of the symbol is not enough, what they need is tutoring. Although children almost always failed the first trial, after receiving explicit instruction they achieved a representational insight that allowed them to succeed in the rest of the task. The comprehension of maps, and probably of other symbolic artifacts, is not solely dependent on age, scaffolding is also crucial at some points in development.