Abstract
Earlier studies suggested that a spatial representation of a child was initially in the form of sequential representation called the “route-map” type, and as a child developed, the representation was transformed into a map-like representation called the “survey -map” type. The present study aimed to examine this hypothesis from the following two standpoints: 1) whether the transformation occurred when periods of children's experience in an environment were approximately contemporaneous regardless of age, and 2) whether the “route-map” type remained after the transformation. Subjects were 7-12 year-old children, and all of them had 20 months of experiences in an object environment. The subjects were asked to place six photographs of a route in the correct order and indicate a target location on a map containing the other two locations. The former task assessed existence of the “route-map” type, and the latter assessed that of the “survey-map” type. The results suggested that the transformation occurred under the contemporaneous condition and that the “route-map” type still remained after the transformation.
