Symbolism

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Why do children have problems with model rooms?

Children are unable to think of the model room as both an object and a symbol. They only see the room as an object.

When can children understand the symbolic relation between a scale model and the space it represents?

Between 2.5-3 years

What happens when researchers give 2.5 year olds photos instead of model rooms to show where a hidden object was hidden?

The children are able to find the hidden object. They perform as well as three year olds do with the model rooms.

What is the main finding of the credible shrinking room experiment?

Children who had trouble finding the objects based on the models, were able to find them with the credible shrinking room because the smaller room is the same as the bigger room, just shrunken down.

What can you do to make a symbol harder for a child to understand? Easier?

Harder- allow them to play with it, makes it harder for them to distinguish between symbol and object. Easier- make it a picture. Harder with picture- hide object behind picture, now picture is no longer a symbol but an object.