Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7273995 | Journal of Experimental Child Psychology | 2018 | 15 Pages |
Abstract
To become skilled artifact users, children must learn the actions and functions associated with artifacts. We investigated preschoolers' ability to fast map an action, function and name associated with a novel artifact, and retain the new mapping long term following brief incidental exposure to the artifact being used. In Experiment 1, 3- and 5-year-olds (Nâ¯=â¯144) were tested 1â¯week after two exposures to a novel action, function, and name. Participants performed well on comprehension tests of all three kinds of information. In Experiment 2, 3-year-olds (Nâ¯=â¯100) were exposed to these three kinds of information only once. Retention of the action-artifact link was above chance levels, whereas retention of function and the name was not. Finally, in Experiment 3, 4-year-olds (Nâ¯=â¯128) performed well on an action production task 1â¯week after brief exposure. In contrast, their performance on a name production task immediately after exposure was poor. Our data suggest that preschoolers can retain function information about a novel artifact from minimal exposure, similar to their ability to learn an artifact name. Crucially, their ability to remember action-artifact mappings is markedly better than their ability to remember functions and names.
Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities
Psychology
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Authors
Amanda K. Holland, Grace Hyde, Kevin J. Riggs, Andrew Simpson,