幼児の空間表象と身体定位効果

抄録

Children's ability to organize a spatial array independent of the external surroundings was investigated. Five-to-six year-old children were shown two geometrical figures arranged left and right on a sketchbook and, after turning around the table, the children were asked to reproduce them on the other side of the sketchbook. Experiment 1 demonstrated that many children made a mirror-image response (a reversal of left and right). Experiment 2 showed that children reversed left and right much less frequently when the sketchbook was rotated 180° before they turned around the table. Experiment 3 also demonstrated that the left-right relation was often reproduced (1) when the response side of the sketchbook was located far from the presentation side or (2) when the two stimulus figures were removed out of the sketchbook. Results were discussed in the context of the distinction between the practical use and the conceptual use of spatial information.