Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the development of children's ability to avoid obstacles in their environment. In Experiment I, 3- to 7-year olds were observed walking over or under a horizontal bar at 10-70% of their height. The older children were more successful at the task. The task was most difficult when the bar was at 40-50% of their height, because of the conflict between passing under and stepping over the bar. 5-year olds were moderately successful at the task, passing through slowly and with few failures, and at this age girls were more cautious than boys. In Experiment II, active avoidance by passing under the still bar and passive avoidance by ducking under the moving bar were observed in 4- to 6-year olds. Passive avoidance produced a wider gap between the bar and the head than did active avoidance. For boys exhibiting active avoidance, the head/bar gap correlated negatively with accident-proneness, suggesting a stronger risk-taking tendency when avoidance was active. The results are relevant to the development of affordance and of children's ability to cope with their environment.
